Police Blotter: Battery, Bogus Buys and Pilfered Perfume

Battery at the Bell:
Just after 11 p.m. on April 30, police responded to a report of battery at the Taco Bell on Sepulveda Boulevard. The victim had been waiting in his car in the drive-through lane when he heard a car horn from somewhere behind him honk more than a dozen times. He heard roughly the same number of honks again once he got to the takeout window. The victim parked and then went to see where the honks were coming from.

According to the victim's account, he approached a man sitting in a white Audi in the drive-through lane, asking, "Excuse me, are you the one on the horn?" The Audi driver reportedly responded, "What's your problem--do you have a problem with it?" The victim says he pointed out the late hour and requested that the driver stop honking, after which he returned to his own car.

Five minutes later, a horn sounded again for about 10 seconds straight. The victim called police and reapproached the Audi. "I called the police about you honking your horn," he reportedly told the driver. The Audi driver then got out of his car and went after the victim, throwing him against the front of another car in line, according to witnesses. The victim told police he injured his hand and twisted his ankle as a result.

The Audi driver then fled southbound on Sepulveda in his car, according to witnesses, one of whom wrote down the car's license plate number. Not long after, the responding officer drove the witnesses and victim to a nearby location where another officer had detained the driver of a white Audi with matching plates. The driver was identified as the man who had battered the victim and was taken to jail.

Victoria's Secret leads to bogus Best Buys:
A woman reported that her personal information had been used to open a line of credit at Best Buy on May 11. The same information had been used to obtain a credit card at Victoria's Secret nine days prior, for which the woman had filed a separate police report. The woman discovered that a $1,600 purchase had been made on the Best Buy account soon after the credit line was issued.

Victoria can't catch a break:
On May 12, police responded to a report of burglary at Victoria's Secret in the Manhattan Village Mall. A store employee said she heard the security alarm sound and ran to the front of the store to investigate. An employee from a neighboring store, the Walking Co., told her he saw two men leaving Victoria's Secret with "a bag full of perfume." The Walking Co. employee then grabbed his cell phone and followed the two men out the mall's south exit.

He reported seeing the men flee in an older model light blue Honda Civic with significant rust marks. The car's license plate numbers were faded and unreadable, according to the Walking Co. employee. A total of 24 bottles of perfume with an approximate value of $1,176 were reported stolen.

Thieves nab swim gear, wooden shrine and Hawaiian vacation:
On May 3, a Chili's employee had swim goggles, a towel and T-shirt, as well as a backpack containing a U.S. Constitution textbook stolen from his locked car parked in the restaurant's lot. The front passenger window was smashed.

The next day, a woman reported that a hand-carved wooden shrine was confirmed to have been delivered by UPS on March 16 but never arrived. The shrine was estimated to be worth $3,000, though the woman insured it for only $400 through UPS.

A Target employee reported her laptop stolen from her unlocked car in the store's parking lot sometime during the morning of May 4.

Also on May 4, a Crest Drive resident reported his white Fuji Shangri-La cruising bike stolen from outside the front door of his home. His wife's bike, parked alongside and unlocked as well, was left behind.

Later that day, a woman reported $272 in fraudulent charges made to her Chase credit card at stores located in Woodland Hills, Chatsworth and Canoga Park.

On May 5, a woman reported two fraudulent charges made on her Chase Visa card—one for a $336 Hawaiian Airlines ticket from LAX to Hawaii and the other for a $396 return ticket. A Chase representative told the woman that the tickets were purchased through Expedia and Orbitz and that the passenger's name was listed as Jong Jung. In order to have completed the purchases, the unknown person would have had to submit the card number, expiration date and three-digit security code. The victim stated that the credit card was in her possession and that she doesn't know anyone named Jong Jung.

A North Valley Drive resident reported May 6 that someone had pried open her bedroom window and stolen a laptop, diamond hoop earrings and an Olympus camera.