Overview
- Burglars hit a Studio City home that residents found ransacked and tried to force entry at two Toluca Lake addresses, with detectives examining whether the cases are linked.
- Police also investigated a separate break-in at a vacant Sherman Oaks house on Matilija Avenue, where three to four men fled before officers arrived.
- The LAPD has surged high-visibility patrols to the San Fernando Valley, adding mounted units, helicopters and cruisers with mobile license-plate readers and assigning specialized detectives.
- Chief Jim McDonnell says many cases fit the methods of organized crews that scout homes, jam Wi‑Fi cameras and climb to second floors, and the Metropolitan Division has identified 49 suspects with nine caught in the act this year.
- Officials report Valley burglaries are down year to date even as arrests remain a small share of cases, and neighbors are forming watch groups while police urge basics like bolting safes, keeping cameras working and not leaving packages out.