On December 15th, there was an incident on Northgate at 1 pm. A clean cut white male around 20 years old was door knocking for the purpose of selling magazines and/or looking for donations for the High School football team to go to Hawaii. After being refused by a resident, he became very loud, abusive, and threatened to return and retaliate. The Police were called and responded immediately. The young man was not arrested but instead, instructed to leave Culver City. Unfortunately, he continued to knock on doors that same afternoon. That same day, a young white woman was also knocking on doors soliciting for similar donations. She claimed to be a daughter of a family on Ranch Road but that was false. She would not accept cash donations, only checks. This is potentially another scam. We have had instances here on The Crest where outgoing mail containing checks have been stolen from mailboxes. The checks were then “washed”, a process that removes the ballpoint ink so that the thief can put in a much larger amount and change the name of the payee. The Post Office recommends that you hand outgoing mail to your Mail Carrier, or bring it to the Post Office or some other secure place where mail is picked up. While the above incident was unfolding, another call was received by the CCPD, this time to a home on Whitburn where they caught 2 hispanic male suspects opening a stolen package from the doorsteps. They were arrested.
Please report any instances directly to CCPD at 310-837-1221. Additionally, please be vigilant about calling the police if you see anyone going door to door that appear to have no particular purpose for doing so except to ask for money. Protect yourself and your family. Do not open the door if you do not know the person. Door-knocking scams for donations are often used as a way to find out if anyone is home. If no one answers the door, it’s an invitation to head for the back yard and search for an easy entry point for a burglary. If you do answer the door, the solicitation for a donation is just icing on the cake! If in doubt, ask to see their business license, which is required. Any legitimate solicitor will have one available to show you. Also, three black male youths were arrested on Sunday, December 17 on Galvin Street and charged with breaking and entering, burglary, and possession of stolen goods (jewelry.)
Moral of story: It doesn’t matter what race, color, gender, how they are dressed, or profile. The crooks are out there, so be on Neighborhood Watch…call the police on all suspicious activity.