INSIDE Century City/ Westwood
NEWS
CenturyCity-WestwoodNews.com
August 2024
LAPD Issues Community Alert Amid Surge in Upscale West LA Neighborhood Burglaries Thieves Target High-End Valuables in Residential Break-Ins Across West Los Angeles The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has issued a community alert following a surge in residential burglaries across several upscale neighborhoods in West Los Angeles, including Bel Air, Bel Air Crest, Benedict Canyon, Beverly Glen, Beverlywood, Brentwood, Cheviot Hills, Holmby Hills, Little HolmbyWestwood, Pacific Palisades, Riviera, Westwood Hills, Westwood South areas. The warning comes after a series of break-ins targeting single-family homes, with thieves focusing on highend valuables such as jewelry, luxury handbags, and cash. According to the LAPD’s West Los Angeles Area Crime & Community Intelligence Center, the burglaries appear to be the work of an organized crew of 2 to 4 unidentified males. These suspects typically strike homes that seem unoccupied, often using ladders, outdoor furniture, or drain pipes to access secondstory master bedrooms. The LAPD alert states that the suspects then smash or cut out a glass partition of the door, crawl in, and remove property. Once inside, they ransack the rooms for
valuables like jewelry, watches, highend purses, safes, and US currency. Often, suspects leave a lay-off/ getaway vehicle out front with a suspect acting as a lookout in case of law enforcement response. Suspects carry handheld shortrange radios for communication with the lay-off vehicle/lookout. Suspects also carry a WIFI Jammer to disrupt the WIFI signal of wireless residential security cameras like RING or NEST. Residents are urged to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity. Police recommend several preventive measures, including installing video surveillance systems, securing sliding glass doors with poles or alarms, and ensuring that safes are bolted down and equipped with GPS tracking devices. Additionally, neighbors are encouraged to engage in community watch programs and share information through platforms like Ring or Nextdoor. • Sometimes, the suspects attempt entry while the victim is inside their residence. • Hours of crimes vary throughout the day and night. • Suspects are crews of multiple males, usually masked and gloved. • Suspect vehicles are usually rentals with dealer paper plates, temporary paper plates, or “cold plates”- freshly stolen plates that have not yet been reported. • Some suspect vehicles have been seen working in tandem with up to two cars. • Suspects also remove the vehicle
license plates before committing a crime to avoid police or surveillance detection. • A residence may be a greater target if it lacks video surveillance, an alarm system, or an active security guard on patrol. • Check your backyards and residence
perimeter for possible hidden recording devices, and be aware of drones (which are used to monitor a residence and residents’ patterns of life). Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to contact LAPD Detective Carrillo at (310) 444-1568 or (213) 216-5308.
New Covid-19 Vaccine Comes with $200 Price Tag at Pharmacies Amid Insurance Delays
With Federal Funding Ended, Most Major Insurers Are Not Covering the Vaccine
As an update, this reporter went to a local CVS pharmacy to get the updated version of the Covid 19 mRNA vaccine recently approved for usage by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unfortunately, even with health insurance, the shot will not be free because the federal government has ended funding for Covid 19 vaccines,
and most of the major health insurance companies will not cover the vaccine even though it is available. The charge for the new vaccine at CVS is $200. The reason the CVS pharmacist gave me was that my insurance company, LA Care Health Plan, has not yet updated its database to include coverage of the newest Covid 19 booster. I was informed that only Blue Shield and Medicare have updated their database to include the new booster as of today. Unless you are insured with either of these plans, you will almost certainly have the same problem. It would be advisable to call your insurance company and
check if and when they will cover this immunization. The seasonal flu shot was covered with no problem. It is alarming that during the biggest Covid surge in two years, when the United States has the largest death toll from Covid 19 in the world, insurance would not cover this vaccine, the Covid Bridge Program has effectively ended, and the government disseminated none of this information with the release of the vaccine. The current U.S. Covid death toll is 2.8K as of August 11, 2024. When I spoke with a customer service representative at LA Care, they informed me that the insurance plan’s database would not be updated until September 5, when the
new vaccine will be covered. I spoke with a company press representative and am waiting for a response from LA Care.