Police Blotter: Snatched Goods, Scratched Neck

All but the sink:
A woman reported a $560 chrome Hans Grohe bathroom faucet stolen from her home June 3. Having started the process of remodeling her home's bathrooms, the woman said she had placed several new faucets and shower heads on a bed in a guest bedroom. As "there have been several workers in and out of her home," according to the report, the woman told police she informed the remodeling contractor of the theft. It is not clear from the report how long the stolen item was sitting out or whether any workers were in the house during that time.

Three rings, no answer:
On June 4, police responded to a report of theft at a downtown nail salon. A woman reported removing several pieces of jewelry from her hands and placing them in a cup holder on the salon chair's armrest in order to receive a manicure. She answered a call on her cell phone as she was leaving the salon and told police she left behind three of her rings. One was a $15,000 platinum engagement ring containing a  two-carat emerald with tiny diamonds near the base, according to her description. The second was a $5,000 Tiffany & Co. white gold ring with alternating sapphires and diamonds circling the band, she said. The third was a white gold antique with etchings and encrusted sapphires valued at $1,000.

The woman told police she realized her mistake after driving away and quickly returned to the salon. The chair in which she received her manicure had already been cleaned, she said, and there was no sign of the rings. None of the employees reported seeing the rings the woman said were left behind, according to the police report.

Illegal word play:
Police looked into a report of graffiti at the corner of 19th and Harkness streets June 5. Someone had altered a street sign's lettering with white paint to make them appear as different letters. The report did not indicate the new words spelled.

Crime solved while victims sleep:
At a traffic stop around 3 a.m.  June 7, police recovered suspected stolen items from a man's car, including a student's backpack containing a textbook and school papers, along with a viola in a green case with the name "Michael" written in black marker across the front.

Police used the car's GPS device to trace its earlier stops in the night. Officers reported discovering an unlocked SUV parked in the driveway of a residence near one of those stops that showed signs of tampering. After being contacted by police, the homeowner confirmed that his son's backpack, school materials and viola were missing from the SUV.

Window shooter strikes... again:
Later that morning, a resident in the 800 block of 23rd Street reported finding two small holes in his living room window soon after waking. Police said the holes appeared to have been caused by pellets from a BB gun. The resident told police that this had happened before in January but that he did not report it. He also told the responding officer that he "did not have any issues with anyone." The cost to replace the window was estimated at $500.

North side story—After Sharkeez assault, a woman jets:
At around 9:30 p.m. June 8, police responded to a report of assault at Baja Sharkeez along Highland Avenue. A woman told police she was watching a basketball game on one of the bar's televisions when a woman in front of her stepped backward onto her foot. When the victim made a comment about "being more careful," the other woman reportedly had a few choice, but unprintable, words to share.

The victim then took a seat elsewhere, according to her own account, but soon noticed the suspect "staring at her in a rude manner." When the victim later got up to go to the restroom, she realized the suspect had followed her into the bathroom entryway, she told police. The suspect pushed the victim against the wall and grabbed her by the neck, she said. Unable to break the woman's grip, the victim pulled a can of self defense spray from her purse and sprayed her attacker in the face. The spray had little effect at first, but the suspect eventually let go and fled, the victim reported.

A third woman told the victim that she had attempted to pull the suspect off of her by the hair during the attack. The victim showed police "swelling and reddish" abrasions on her neck that looked to be caused by fingernail scratches, an officer reported.

The suspect is described as a 5-foot-3 Hispanic woman in her mid-20s with wavy hair to the middle of her back. She was wearing a long, black sleeveless cotton dress.

Thefts, fraud and tagging:
June 5: Someone spray-painted in red the letters WS, SWD, KLXR and KLX, along with an unknown symbol, in and around the lower north pier parking lot. Later that day, a woman reported $4,000 had been fraudulently withdrawn from her checking account for a PayPal transaction.

June 7: Personal items were stolen from an unlocked car in the 3000 block of Palm Avenue. Personal items were also reported stolen, in separate incidents, from lockers at Bally Total Fitness and from a junior varsity football locker room at Mira Costa High School.

The same day, a man reported that six fraudulent withdrawals had been made from his checking account—two totaling $480 had been made from a Bank of America branch in the Manhattan Village Mall and four others of undisclosed amounts had been made from branches in Gardena and Redondo Beach. A woman also reported a loss of $172.46 from three fraudulent transactions made on her US Bank debit card.

June 8: Personal items were reported stolen from a locked truck in the 3400 block of Pointsettia Avenue.