California Apparel News

A car was broken into and later stolen from the California Market Center in Los Angeles shortly after business hours on May 27.

The car, which belonged to an employee of the California Apparel News, was discovered missing at 6:30 p.m. from its regular spot on the third-floor “B” wing of the underground garage. After a search of the garage, the car was found at 6:55 p.m., unlocked and ransacked in a dark corner of the same floor and wing. Observers said the front passenger window was down several inches and one side of the back seat had been folded down.

The car’s owner alerted building security and called the police. While she waited in the building’s lobby for the police to arrive, the car was taken. The auto burglar or burglars used the owner’s parking key card, which had been left in the car. Security confirmed the key card was used to exit the garage at 7:40 p.m.

This was the second theft incident in the CMC on the same day. At about 5 p.m., an employee of an accessories showroom on the building’s 10th floor had her purse snatched in the underground garage. The woman was headed to her car on the second-floor B wing when, she said, she was grabbed from behind by a young man. “He grabbed my purse and ran,” she said. The woman described the robber as a Hispanic male who was about 5 feet 6 inches tall and wore a gray snap-back cap.

The incident prompted the CMC to begin implementing new security initiatives. Beginning on May 28, additional security was added to patrol the three floors of the garage. Building management also suggested any tenant who wants a security guard to escort them to their car can ask for one at the security desk in the lobby. Additional security measures are also currently being evaluated.

The building also prepared a memo to all tenants alerting them about the incidents and noting, “We assure you that we are taking this situation extremely seriously and will do whatever we can to deter such thefts from taking place again.”

The memo recommended tenants make sure their cars are locked and secured, all windows are fully up, and no valuables are left in plain sight. The memo further urges tenants to keep their parking card with them at all times and asks tenants to report suspicious people or behavior in the building to security, which can be reached at (213) 630-3700.

CMC President Jaime Lee noted that the thefts on May 27 were unusual for the building. “We have not had similar incidents in quite some time,” she said. “That being said, our security team makes extraordinary efforts to always be on alert, and we are committed to ensuring the CMC is a safe environment for all tenants and visitors. We are responding to yesterday’s incident by increasing parking foot patrols and monitoring all traffic through the building.”

Kent Smith, executive director of the Los Angeles Fashion District, said there has been a rise in property crime in every neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles but noted that this comes after many years of relatively low crime in the LA Fashion District.

“Criminal activity was down to such an extent that we maybe all got a little complacent,” he said. “We’ve had it so easy for so long that even veteran downtown people are making some pretty basic mistakes. There are basic precautions that all of us as people living in a big diverse place like Los Angeles need to recognize. This goes for tourists as well as residents.”

Smith said people should observe safety precautions such locking doors and making sure valuables are not left unattended. For example, retail owners who typically leave their smartphones by the cash register might have them stolen while they help customers.

“We’ve had a number of ATMS stolen in our district over that last couple of months,” Smith said, adding that standalone ATMs have been stolen from inside locked stores after hours.

“People put their roll-down doors down in the evening, but they have a little sign that projects out that says ‘ATM.’ Guys are driving up, ripping off the lock, rolling up the doors and grabbing the ATM, which, of course, is right at the front of the store.”

Smith and his team have been alerting business owners to remove the ATM sign and move the machine to the back of the store.

“Generally speaking, we are an incredibly safe district,” Smith said. “But in any place in the world, you’ve got to take some basic precautions.”