oatnet

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/1859702.html

Friday, September 16, 2005

Rash of BB gun attacks on South Bay cars spreads
Reports from Harbor Area and Carson add about 130 incidents to 100 that
have occurred in Torrance and the beach cities in the past month.
By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze

The plague of attacks on car windows by vandals with BB guns that has
infuriated South Bay residents in recent weeks appears to be moving into
the Harbor Area and Carson, adding to the dozens of reports recently
from victims in Torrance and the beach cities.

Los Angeles police received nearly 100 reports of such crimes since
mid-August in Harbor City, Wilmington and San Pedro.

Sheriff's deputies received 32 reports Wednesday and Thursday in Carson
and the unincorporated area west of the city.

The crimes occurred between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. on roads including 218th,
220th and 228th streets, the 2200 block of Grave Avenue, and on Vermont
and Normandie avenues and Figueroa Street, Lt. Thomas Grubb said.

None of the police agencies in the affected cities has evidence that
would lead them to the culprits, who have cost residents thousands of
dollars in repairs. Harbor Division police Lt. Rick Angelos said the
LAPD in the Harbor Area has no witnesses and no suspect descriptions.

"They are not doing anything that would generate prints," Angelos said.

Police need help, he said, from anyone who might have seen vehicles
speeding from their neighborhoods.

In the Harbor Area, vandals also have thrown rocks at windows and
slashed the left front tires of a number of vehicles, Angelos said.

From Aug. 12 to Sept. 12, police received 40 reports from residents in
Harbor City, 30 from San Pedro and more than 20 in Wilmington.

A large concentration occurred in an area bounded by 240th and 252nd
streets and Western and Belle Porte avenues in Harbor City. Most of the
crimes occurred from 6 p.m. to midnight.

The vandals appear to just be having fun, Angelos said.

"I think this is something that just cracks them up," he said.

Torrance, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach police
reported last month that they had taken about 100 reports from vandalism
victims. Torrance police received 60 of those reports.

Redondo Beach had three more reports in the last week in the 200 block
of South Helberta Avenue, police Sgt. Phil Keenan said.

"Many of these things are like $400 windows," Keenan said. "You start
doing the math."