Pali Sees Spike in Vehicle Theft

11 stolen cars in Palisades since new year.

By Sam Catanzaro.

Car theft is on the rise in Pacific Palisades.

Since January, 1, there have been 11 stolen vehicles in Pacific Palisades, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and many of these misfortunes could have been avoided.

According to LAPD Senior Lead Officer Michael Moore, detectives have noticed that, in most cases, vehicles are stolen because the key fob has been left inside the car.

“Of the 11, eight have been recovered. 100 percent of the recovered vehicles had keys in them,” Moore said. “Please make sure you are not leaving key fobs anywhere near your vehicle.”

According to Moore, Pacific Palisades has seen a roughly 14 percent rise in car thefts thus far this year compared to last year. Over the past few weeks, there have been a particularly high number of stolen vehicles in the Palisades. In all the incidents since February 15, the victims’ cars were stolen at night while parked in a home garage or on the street or driveway of the victim. 

On the evening of the 15th, a car was stolen from the 500 block of Chapala Drive while parked on the street. The evening of the 16th, a car was stolen from the street on Latimer Road at 1:44 a.m. by one to four male suspects. On the evening of the 17th, between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. on the 18th, a car was stolen from a driveway on the 600 block of Baylor Drive. On the 18th, a car parked in a driveway on the 1100 block of Iliff Street was stolen and on the 23rd a car was stolen from a garage on the 17200 block of Sunset Boulevard.

According to Moore, in most instances because the key fob was in the car, suspects were able to press the start button found on newer vehicles start the engine. Moore said that video surveillance footage shows individuals going door-to-door pulling on handles to see if cars are unlocked.

In addition to these car thefts, over the past few weeks, there have been a string of burglaries from vehicles in Pacific Palisades. In one instance, on the same night a car was stolen from the 17200 block of Sunset Blvd, another vehicle on the same block had its window smashed with the suspect taking the victim’s laptop computer, iPad and navigation system.