Editor’s note: The following article was compiled from reports recently available at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. The reports are preliminary, compiled by deputies who respond to calls for service. There is no arrest information available for these reports.
Bonnie & Clyde’s crab grab
In a shoplifting incident at the Sand Canyon Vons on Sept. 25, Sheriff’s Station deputies were called to the store around 8:45 p.m. regarding the theft of more than $600 worth of seafood.
The store manager shared footage with deputies of a man and woman entering the store and wandering the aisles before entering the back of the freezer section where shipments are delivered.
While in the back, both suspects pretended to be vendors, pushing around a pallet jack. The suspect then grabbed a 20-pound box of king crab legs and walked out of the store without paying. The box was valued at $659.
What’s that in your pocket, sir?
Sheriff’s Station deputies responding to a report of a Sept. 25 theft from a novelty store on Bouquet Canyon Road discovered a couple caught on tape trying to steal handcuffs and two air-powered marital aids built for male enhancement.
At around 2 p.m., a man in a black shirt, red shorts and a black face mask entered the store along with a woman wearing a black shirt and blue shorts and a black face mask.
The informant witnessed a woman picking up several items, putting them back down and then walking around to an aisle out of view of the store’s clerk.
The woman then paid for two items and left the store, at which time the clerk went to the aisle where the woman was last seen and noticed an empty box labeled “Master Series” for “chained bracelets” and two empty boxes labeled “Performance 101” for the aforementioned marital aids.
When deputies reviewed the security footage, they observed the female suspect putting the boxes with the now-stolen items on a shelf where the male suspect was able to open the boxes out of the clerk’s view and then place the cuffs and marital aids in his pockets. The total amount of the theft was valued at $85.
That’s not your truck
A man driving up to his home on Fourl Road noticed a woman exiting his white 2016 Chevy Silverado truck as he was parking.
The victim began yelling at the woman, who immediately ran to a white BMW sedan that was parked in front of the victim’s truck.
The man followed the BMW onto the freeway, but reported he lost sight of the vehicle in the Castaic area and wasn’t able to remember the suspect’s license plate number. The victim noted $50 and some paperwork was stolen.
A neighbor might have had video of the theft, according to the initial report.
Star-crossed trespassing suspects
Sheriff’s Station deputies conducting a patrol check at Discovery Park in the early morning hours of Sept. 28 stumbled upon a pair in the park after dark without permission.
The woman, who was sitting in the driver seat, told deputies ser was aware the park was closed, but she wanted to hang out with her ex-boyfriend late at night and the two claimed to have nowhere else to go.
The ex-boyfriend, who was standing outside of the car next to the passenger’s side when deputies arrived, gave the officers a fake name and said the two had been at the park since 8 p.m.
The ex-boyfriend later acknowledged that he gave the deputies a fake name to avoid being taken to jail. Deputies ultimately learned the man had a felony warrant for his arrest out of Nevada, and a pair of warrants out of the Long Beach area.
The ex-girlfriend was cited for being in the park after hours and the ex-boyfriend was taken to jail.
More catalytic converter thefts
A business owner reported that five white Ford F-450 trucks parked in a gated lot next to the business near Furnivall Street and Soledad Canyon Road all had their catalytic converters stolen, which reportedly happened sometime during the last weekend in September.
The victim did not have any cameras in his lot, but deputies learned that a neighbor might have surveillance footage of the incident.
The converters, which were sawed off the trucks, can be scrapped for the valuable metals they contain. Replacing the converter on a vehicle that size can cost about $1,500 to $2,000 apiece.
He almost thought of everything
Sheriff’s Station deputies responded to a business on Westinghouse Place on Sept. 28 and learned that, three days prior, around 3 a.m., a suspect backed up to a gate just out of view of the security camera, and cut a lock on a gate at the location.
The security footage then showed the suspect returning at 4 p.m., having removed his front and back license plates at this point to avoid detection.
He then backed his truck into the gated area and connected his truck to the trailer he planned to steal from the location.
“He hooked the trailer up to the vehicle and attempted to drive away with it, but was unable to, due to the trailer being bolted down to the concrete. … On both attempts the suspect was unsuccessful in stealing the trailer,” according to the deputies’ report.
