From Officer Sue Shine:

On May 29, a Chevy Chase Estates Association director and canyon resident reported a male he saw up by the side of his home to the police department.  Once on scene, officers became concerned as the driveway the male walked up was approximately 100 feet away from the street.  Given a terrific description and last known direction, officers located the male who claimed to be placing flyers for a business at the homes in the area.  The male had no permit, and when asked for ID, could produce none.  A further check located STOLEN MAIL from several homes up Figueroa, Pheasant, and nearby.  The male was on foot and had a dog with him.  Here is the part that made me proud of the Chevy Chase neighbors: The suspect lives on Buckingham.  I would be willing to guess this is the same guy who was stealing the mail up there over the past year.  He was booked for a felony and will undoubtedly bail out.  Now, at least, if the thefts start again, we know where to look for evidence.

Officer Sue Shine  – East Command, Lead Officer

E-mail: sshine@ci.glendale.ca.us

From the CCEA director (name withheld):

My driveway is long and steep, nobody walks down it, in sixteen years not even one trick or treating kid on Halloween has tried, so when some nice looking young guy with a dog came strutting down my driveway, I had a gut feeling something just wasn’t right.  He turned and started to walk away when he saw me, but I shouted at him asking what he was doing.  I did this for two reasons, one to hear his explanation for why he was walking so far off the city street down by my house, and most importantly I needed a few moments to get full description for the police.  He told me he was only looking for a road and continued to walk away.  (“only looking for a road” also rang bad with my gut.)  I smiled, walked in the house, grabbed the phone, and called 911 so I could give them the following description fast.  White male, 28-30 years old, 5’10”, slim, possibly Armenian, wearing dark jeans, a gray tee-shirt, a cloth satchel slung over his shoulder, and walking with a white pit bull dog.  The police arrived fast, agreed it was indeed odd that somebody would walk all the way down my long driveway “looking for a road”, asked me a few more questions, then started looking.  In moments we spotted the guy with the dog and I was able to ID him for the police.  The entire episode, from spotting the guy by my house to the police politely questioning him, lasted maybe seven minutes.

THREE IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR ALL CANYON RESIDENTS

1. Trust your gut.  If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.  ACT on what your gut tells you. 
2. Get a detailed description.  It’s a lot easier than you might think.  Practice it a couple of times for fun to prove how good your eyes actually are, you’ll be shocked and surprised.
3. Call 911 FAST, like RIGHT NOW!  Every second you can give the police is a second they have to catch the bad guy.

And now for some bad news.

The State of California has instituted a catch and release program for criminals called “prison realignment or reform.”  Basically it means criminals like burglars and such won’t be going to jail.

Please click here to download a message from Glendale’s Police Chief Ronald L. De Pompa addressing this and other important subjects.  (takes a moment to download)