By Helen Seliverstov
Daily Bruin Contributor
Five cars had their windows smashed on Veteran and Kelton
Avenues in the past week ““ and these were just a small
portion of more than 85 vehicles that have been broken into on
these streets since September, according to officers from both
university and city police.
LAPD has received 61 and UCPD has received 24 reports of car
burglaries on Kelton and Veteran Avenues since just before the
start of fall quarter.
While the number of car burglaries is above average, it is not
too unusual, said UCPD detective Selby Arsena.
Theft commonly occurs in Westwood because students tend to be
careless, often not locking their cars and leaving possessions in
plain sight, said LAPD auto theft coordinator Jeff Brumagin.
Burglars also feel more comfortable walking through
Westwood’s many apartment garages and carports than they
would on the open streets, Brumagin said.
“Westwood is an easy place,” Brumagin said, adding
that Veteran and Kelton are active areas, due in part to the many
garages and carports.
While UCPD accepts all calls about crime in Westwood, it is LAPD
that is supposed to officially receive all reports that happen off
campus.
The police departments’ figures are independent of each
other because UCPD and LAPD usually compile statistics separately,
as people usually report car burglaries to either UCPD or LAPD,
said Nancy Greenstein, director of police community services for
UCPD.
Car theft most commonly occurs between midnight and 5:30 a.m.
““ called “the Morning Watch” in LAPD jargon.
During this time, few people are around and burglars can go
“undetected and unmolested,” Brumagin said.
UCPD detective Selby Arsena believes the rash of break-ins are
being done by the same individual or group of individuals due to
the frequency of incidents and the similarity of methods used to
break in.
The most popular style of burglarizing cars is breaking windows
and grabbing for anything loose seen in the car ““ stereos,
cell phones, CDs and books, Arsena said.
One of the reports that came into UCPD describes one suspect as
a 5-foot-9-inch man with medium build, weighing approximately 180
pounds and between 25-35 years of age. Arsena reported the suspect
as having medium build. The suspect’s companion was driving a
new car of a dark color, according to Arsena.
As Brumagin explained, LAPD auto theft detectives pass on
information to lead officers who are supposed to post this
information for management companies, who then pass it on to
individual apartment managers.
LAPD senior lead officer Michael Wang said to Westwood drivers
that if they leave visible objects in the car, their windows may be
smashed.
“All it takes is a little piece of ceramic and the window
is shattered in 10 seconds,” Wang said.
UCPD has addressed the problem by sending out extra patrols and
putting in surveillance cameras, Arsena said.
But the car break-ins continue.
Nina Javdani, manager of the Kelton Towers located on Kelton
Avenue, recently experienced two break-ins in her locked apartment
garage ““ and Javdani’s description of the assailant
differs from the one UCPD has.
Javdani said she saw two tall men push the gates open around
midnight in December. Javdani went to call police and by the time
she returned, a car had been broken into and the suspects were
gone.