by Liz Mullen
Recipe for scrambled e-bikers
HBPD has had several reports of juveniles on e-bikes throwing eggs at cars but has been hampered in catching them because e-bike chases pose a bigger threat to the public than the eggs.
“The juveniles have fled from officers multiple times and due to them being on e-bikes, we have been unable to apprehend them,” Dadigan said. “Difficulties in e-bike chases include the bikes traveling at high speeds, running stop signs, and driving recklessly,” Dadigan said.
“Our officers, oftentimes, don’t chase them because it could cause a crash,” Dadigan said. Officers must weigh the severity of the crime against the possible dangers when deciding whether to pursue criminals, Dadigan said. “Unfortunately, there is not an easy solution,” he said.
Suspect spins wheels
Hermosa Beach Police Department officers arrested a woman suspected in three store thefts and a robbery after a chase in which she ended up with her car stuck perched on top of a median.
The woman had just stolen more than $2,000 worth of merchandise from a Hermosa Beach store on Jan. 29 and then driven to Torrance. “The Torrance Police Department assisted HBPD in locating the suspect’s vehicle in Torrance shortly after the $2,000 merchandise theft. The suspect attempted to flee, but got high centered on a concrete median in a parking lot,” HBPD Officer Keaton Dadigan said.
The woman had two warrants out for her arrest from 2024 and is a suspect in two other store thefts in Hermosa Beach, as well as a robbery, Dadigan said. “She was held in jail and sent to court,” he said.
Restroom robbery
A man who was cleaning public restrooms was assaulted and threatened with a knife on the 2600 block of Valley Drive on Jan. 20 at about 9:30 p.m. Two suspects entered the restroom, struck the man and held a knife against him while demanding money. The suspects took the victim’s necklace and other property and fled.
Too many phones
On Jan. 27 at about 3:15 p.m. MBPD was called to the Apple Store in Manhattan Village about a possible crime of fraud. MBPD officers detained a suspect who had four cell phones, all containing digital credit cards.
Officers questioned the suspect, who admitted the digital credit cards belonged to other people.
Manhattan Beach Police Department officers arrested a suspect at the Apple Store for multiple fraud charges and solved a crime that had not been reported during the last week of January.
On Jan. 26 at about 1:45 p.m., MBPD officers made a traffic stop in the area of Rosecrans Avenue and Aviation Boulevard. The driver, officers discovered, was on probation for burglary. The suspect consented to a search of his vehicle.
Officers found drugs and a lock-picking kit. They also found the driver’s license of a Manhattan Beach resident.
Officers called that resident, who told them the driver’s license was stolen from their vehicle on Jan. 10 on the 400 block of 27th Street. The victim never reported the crime.
The suspect was arrested for possession of stolen property, a controlled substance and burglary tools and booked into the MBPD jail.
The suspect was arrested on fraud charges and booked into the MBPD jail.
Additionally, on Jan. 27, MPBD, assisted a neighboring police agency with an arrest of a suspect for assault with a deadly weapon. At about 3:30 p.m. officers were alerted that the crime of assault with a deadly weapon had occurred in another city.
MBPD officers located the suspect’s vehicle on Sepulveda Boulevard and Douglas Street and initiated a traffic stop. MBPD held the suspect until the neighboring police department officers could arrive and arrest the suspect.
Home office
Redondo Beach police rousted four people who were living in a commercial building and are investigating an armed robbery.
On Saturday, Jan. 25, two men pointed a gun at victims who were inside a Nissan SUV on the 1800 block of S. Elena Ave.
The robbers forced the victims to hand over two Apple iPhones, Apple AirPods, wallets and necklaces, among other items.
On Jan. 27 police arrested four people who were apparently living inside a closed commercial building on the 1000 block of North Harbor Drive.
It is not known how the two men and two women were able to break into the building, but they didn’t steal anything. No property loss reported. ER