First published in the July 14 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
The city of La Cañada Flintridge saw a spike in residential burglaries in May, but the number may be lower for the month of June following the recent arrest of a suspect involved in several incidents.
Robert Hahnlein, captain of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, presented the crime statistics to the City Council during a meeting June 28 and stated that Orange County law enforcement arrested a person involved with a crew who targeted the area and was responsible for four of the eight residential burglaries in May.
“That was great work, and I think part of it was due to the Flock [license-plate reading camera] hits on the vehicles,” he told council members. “They were able to pinpoint who this guy was and Orange County picked him up.”
Hahnlein added that only two residential burglaries had occurred as of late June, a figure that would make it the lowest number of reported incidents in a month this year. The updated statistics that include June will be reported at a future City Council meeting.
A total of 26 part I offenses — serious crimes such as robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, sex offenses and homicide — occurred in May after having 42 the previous month. Thirteen incidents of larceny and theft were reported during the period, as well as three aggravated assaults and two grand theft autos.
There were also nine part II offenses that include five reports of identity theft, three incidents involving narcotics and one case of vandalism.
After crime stats were presented, Councilman Jonathan Curtis shifted the discussion to the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed by an 18-year-old gunman. He asked the captain about the Sheriff Department’s protocols during such incidents, and Hahnlein assured him that his deputies would not have waited 78 minutes, as Uvalde officers did, to intervene. As soon as there is a team of three or four deputies on site, they would go in.
“We train constantly; we brief our deputies constantly; we watch videos and update ourselves on the latest tactics that we use,” Hahnlein said. “I can guarantee that it wouldn’t happen like it did in Uvalde. When we have enough deputies, we go in. We try to stop the incident as quickly as we can. … We won’t wait around.”
Hahnlein added that he is hoping to organize an event along with the fire department and law enforcement from surrounding cities to inform the community on how to handle incidents involving an active shooter.
