Police investigate the scene of an officer-involved shooting on Ruthelen Avenue Monday, March 03, 2014, Gardena, CA. Gardena police responded to a call of a residential burglary and shot one of the suspects. (Steve McCrank / Staff Photographer) 
Los Angeles Sheriffs Dept. detectives investigate the scene of an officer involved shooting on Ruthelen Avenue, while residents wait to go back to their houses, Monday, March 03, 2014, Gardena, CA. Gardena police responded to a call of a residential burglary and shot one of the suspects. (Steve McCrank / Staff Photographer) The officers were responding to a 12:20 p.m. call about suspicious activity at a home in the 15500 block of Ruthelen Avenue, said Gardena police Lt. Steve Prendergast. When they arrived, the officers encountered two men and ultimately shot one of them.
Both were taken to a nearby hospital, but their identities and conditions were not released Monday by Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives, who are in charge of the investigation because an officer was involved in a shooting.
Neither Prendergast nor sheriff’s officials would say what led to shooting. Prendergast said both men would be booked on suspicion of residential burglary.
News video at the scene of the shooting showed bloody clothes and shoes lying near a backyard fence.
Residential burglaries have been increasing in Gardena and other South Bay cities this year, officials said.
“As far as where we stand compared to last year, we’ve had 20 more burglaries this year than we had at this time last year,” Prendergast said.
Torrance experienced nearly 20 burglaries in just one week last month.
“Property crimes, as a whole, are on the rise — particularly residential burglaries,” said Torrance police Sgt. Robert Watt. “It’s due to the fact that these suspects aren’t spending any time in jail.”
Statewide, prison overcrowding led to an early-release program in 2011 that sent home tens of thousands of criminals before their sentences were up. Watt and other local police officials — including Manhattan Beach police, who reported a 6 percent increase in burglaries last year from the year before — have blamed so-called prison realignment measures for the recent wave of property crimes.
In Torrance, Watt said officers happened upon two suspected burglars Monday morning after stopping a woman for a minor traffic violation in the 24700 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. In the woman’s vehicle was evidence that led the officers to a home in the 2300 block of 247th Street, where the suspected burglars were found and taken into custody, Watt said.
To prevent such crimes, authorities recommend reporting suspicious behavior to police immediately and installing audible security alarms.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will handle the Gardena investigation, as it does for all officer-involved shootings in city police departments in the county. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call 323-890-5500.
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