Venice Burglary Suspect Leaves After Victim Asks If He's OK
VENICE (CBSLA.com) — A Venice woman says she woke up in her bed to the shock of seeing a man standing over her and pointing what she thought was a gun.
The incident is the latest in a series of burglaries in the area between Lincoln Boulevard and the beach.
"I just saw sort of a silhouette kind of above me," victim Maya Sahafi said. "I must not have been able to stop screaming, because he kept telling me to quiet down."
She said the suspect demanded money and stole her phone.
The LAPD says this is one of 18 burglaries in Venice over the past week within a 10-mile radius. More than half happened in cases where victims left their doors and windows unlocked.
"When they know this, they'll return to the neighborhoods that are commonly left unsecured," LAPD Detective Robyn Salazar said. "So, we need to take control of our neighborhood and lock things up."
Sahafi thinks the suspect managed to pry open a locked window before he confronted her.
When she had calmed down, she says she realized the suspect appeared to be a teenager.
"I just got worried about him and I asked him if he was OK," Sahafi recalled. "And he said 'No, I'm not.' "
Sahafi says the suspect then put down the what she thought was a gun and handed Sahafi her phone and left.
"At that point, he gave me back my phone and he said 'Here's your phone. Call the police if you want.' And he ran out," Sahafi said.
Sahafi said the suspect did take her laptop.
Police said that since there appears to be no security video of the suspect, they cannot be certain the robberies are related.
