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Video of the Day: Criminals Dress up as DWP & Steal
David Markland of LA Metblogs posted this above video from a surveillance camera at the his apartment building in Hollywood. A man dressed up as a construction worker walks up to a bike, cuts the bolt of the lock and steals it shortly after 8:00 a.m. last week Tuesday.
As Markland notes in his post, his local neighborhood council representative said this is occurring around town with DWP workers.
In Sherman Oaks last week, four men posting as DWP were arrested. One neighbor from the neighborhood watch e-mails over the account:
Our older neighbor was approached by four men posing as DWP workers and said they needed to check all the faucets in the house. He let them in and they spread out through their house. They left quickly and the police were called. The police responded very quickly and canvassed the neighborhood and were able to apprehend the suspects as they were in another older person's home on Buffalo and Valleyheart. The police were very glad to catch these guys as they appeared to be a ring of thieves. The police again recommended not opening the door to anyone and if a "worker" comes to your door ask for ID and call the appropriate company to verify their visit before allowing them in. Just wanted to let you know
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Below is another e-mail from the same neighborhood watch. This is the kind of neighborhood information sharing and community policing that led to the above arrests:
Apparently there has been a black SUV with several guys in it trolling our neighborhood and ringing bells saying they are from the DWP. They are not. The police are aware and are trying to spot them... If you/anyone in the neighborhood sees a black SUV that doesn't belong call the police to alert them. They are already aware and are hoping for neighborhood assistance.
Ron Carter, the LAPD Senior Lead Officer for East Sherman Oaks, told us they were arrested on multiple counts for distraction burglary crimes.
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