PVE Police with assistance from Torrance Police, including drones and police dogs, along with a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Air Support Helicopter arrested two suspects with prior felony convictions. Support from the community who called in tips were crucial in the arrests.
John Bailey, President
Southeast Torrance Homeowners’ Association, Inc. (SETHA)
setha-torrance.blogspot.com
We know there has been a lot of buzz about the police activity in PVE yesterday, and today and we’re happy to finally have time to write a synopsis for the public. We would like to thank the residents and community members for your ongoing support and for those who called in tips! We also want to acknowledge our officers and dispatchers. They worked hard and stayed late so they could protect PVE when they had previously planned on going home. Yesterday, this meant an officer not spending his birthday with his family and missing a dinner planned for him. Other officers rearranged their personal plans and although it may go unnoticed sometimes, we want to show the human side of those who wear the badge and recognize the families of our officers and dispatchers who sacrifice for the good of the community.
On Wednesday, 09/18/19, at about 8:30 am, a resident in the 4200 block of Via Pinzon called PVEPD to report two suspicious men talking to her husband in front of their house. As officers arrived, we learned the two men were claiming to know the resident’s adult son, who was not home. The two men claimed they were allowed to take the son’s Jeep and were pressuring the residents for the keys. After officers started questioning the suspects, one of them said he had a knife and officers developed enough probable cause to conduct a search of them. While ordering them to submit to a search, the suspect with the knife fled on foot and officers gave chase, but the suspect got away. It was believed he ran into the ravine area near Via Opata. Another officer quickly subdued the other suspect who was subsequently arrested for attempted extortion. We sent a Nixle notification to the public with the outstanding suspect’s description.
Officers immediately setup a containment and conducted a thorough search of the area. We are thankful for the mutual aid response from Torrance Police Department who deployed their drones to assist in the search. The search was unsuccessful, but officers remained in the area to see if the suspect would emerge from the brush area. Officers searched the suspect’s car and found a loaded magazine for a 9mm handgun (no handgun recovered), extra ammo, suspected methamphetamine and hypodermic needles.
At about 4 pm that same day, a witness called PVEPD and said they noticed a suspicious person and he matched the description of our suspect. One minute later, officers arrived on scene and located the suspect on Paseo Del Campo. The officers order the suspect to stop; however, he fled into the thick brush area and out of site. We again setup a containment and started another thorough search. Torrance Police Department assisted for a second time with their drones and police dogs this time. LASD Headquarters also assisted with a helicopter. After that thorough search, we were unable to locate the suspect.
This morning, at about 9:45 am, a golf course employee called PVEPD to report that a suspect had just stolen a golf cart and the suspect matched the description of who we were searching for yesterday. PVEPD officers immediately responded and established another containment. As we were coordinating our search, a jogger let one of our officers know a suspect matching the description emerged on Via Campesina. Officers flooded the area and one officer in an unmarked car noticed the suspect in the passenger seat of a vehicle that was leaving the area. A high risk traffic stop was conducted at the intersection of Palos Verdes Drive West and Palos Verdes Drive North and the suspect was taken into custody without further incident. The driver was detained, but soon released as we learned he had just agreed to give the suspect a ride and did not know him. Our detectives will be following up with the investigation and the case will be presented to the district attorney’s office at a later date.
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