A string of crimes in Westwood Village earlier this week have put police and residents on alert.
Early Sunday morning, a woman’s life was suddenly endangered when two unknown suspects attempted to kidnap her, according to a crime alert from university police. At 7:35 a.m. on Jan. 27, the suspects grabbed a female UCLA staff member walking on Westwood Boulevard toward Weyburn Avenue and attempted to pull her across the street to a waiting van. The woman punched her attacker in the face and fled.
On Monday at approximately 10 p.m., a male victim was walking near Strathmore Avenue and Landfair Avenue when a vehicle stopped suddenly. One of the suspects jumped out of the car and tried to steal the victim’s bag. The suspect got back into the car after punching the victim in the face repeatedly. The second suspect was driving the blue sedan, and had remained in the car.
Nancy Greenstein, the director of police community service for the UCPD, said there will be an increased patrol near where the attempted robbery took place. “That’s an area where we would be diligent in ensuring patrol watches out for that area,” Greenstein said.
She said both crimes appear to be isolated incidents and that the attempted kidnapping was not normal for this area and for that time of day. “That sounds very unusual, especially for Westwood, that (this sort) of crime would occur,” Greenstein said.
Police also issued alerts about recent reports of burglary of theft from motor vehicles in the Keystone/Mentone Apartments. Since Jan. 1, eight cars with portable GPS units were broken into and there has also been alert issued for a man who may have been involved in a burglary at the University Co-op building.
Magda Fernandez, a second-year mathematics student, said she usually feels secure in Westwood. She said she hopes to see the police and campus security respond to the recent attempted crimes.
“This is well-known as a secure community. I hope to see really increased security and the focus on protecting campus students,” Fernandez said.
Other students, like Rosa Tananta, a second-year English student, have seen firsthand the threats students, especially young women, face. Tananta works at Westside Pavilion, a shopping mall at the intersection of Westwood and Pico boulevards. She said she was shocked when a stranger grabbed her as she was walking home. She was unharmed, but had previously thought the West Side didn’t see that sort of crime. “I thought this was a really safe area. I walk around here at night. … I didn’t think it was that dangerous,” Tananta said.
She added that because she does not have a car, she cannot avoid walking around at night. “I don’t really have an option as far as getting a ride. You’ve just (got to) deal with it. I’m paranoid … but unfortunately there’s nothing I can do,” Tananta said.
By reporting incidents to the police, citizens and the UCPD can work together to make Westwood a safer place. Greenstein said the most important thing students can do in a crime-related or suspicious situation is to alert the authorities.
“It’s really important to report quickly after an incident, or to report any suspicious people,” Greenstein said. She added that the victim of the attempted kidnapping quickly filed reports with both the UCPD and the LAPD, and that she hopes the LAPD will be patrolling Westwood Boulevard more closely.
Tananta, however, said she won’t feel the same way about walking around Westwood at night after what happened to her. “You get pissed off because you feel like you can’t do anything about it. You don’t walk around feeling as confident as you did before,” she said.