Monrovia Police: Man on Meth in Un-Vacant Hotel Room; Mail Box Theft; Arrested for 'Borrowing' Vehicle; Wife Punches Husband in Nose; Car Locked But Windows Down; Etc.

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for August 22-24. - Brad Haugaard]

During the last seven-day period, the Police Department handled 417 service events, resulting in 82 investigations.

Vehicle Tampering / Receiving Stolen Property – Suspect Arrested
August 22 at 8:25 a.m., a suspicious male subject was reported in the area of Lemon and Terrado pulling on door handles of vehicles. Officers responded to the area and located the juvenile suspect. He was found to be on probation and wearing a probation monitoring device. The juvenile was in possession of a wallet containing another person’s credit cards and cash. He denied tampering with the vehicles, but video surveillance was located that showed him pulling on vehicle door handles. He was arrested and taken into custody. Officers located the owner of the credit cards. He informed the officers that his vehicle had been broken into and he was missing his wallet, which was found to be the one the suspect was carrying.

Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance
August 22 at 2:15 p.m., officers responded to a hotel in the 700 block of W. Huntington. Staff at the hotel entered a room that was supposed to be vacant and discovered a male subject inside, lying on the bed with pills around him. Officers arrived and contacted the subject. He told the officers that he had recently used methamphetamine and that he had more inside the room. He consented to a search of the room and the officers located a useable amount of methamphetamine. The subject was taken to a hospital as he required medical assistance.

Theft of Mail
August 22 at 4:25 p.m., a theft of mail was reported in the 200 block of Linwood Avenue. The victim reported that his mailbox had been pried open. Police responded to investigate and discovered a total of four mailboxes had been pried open and mail was missing from all the boxes. The investigation is continuing.

Receiving Stolen Property – Suspect Arrested
August 23 at 2:32 a.m., an officer was on patrol in the area of Royal Oaks and Shamrock when he stopped a vehicle for a lighting violation. The driver claimed he borrowed the vehicle from a friend. He was taken into custody for no means of identification. A search of the vehicle revealed a driver's license belonging to a female. The officer contacted the owner of the license, who said she was the victim of a vehicle burglary in Ontario. The driver was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property.

Vehicle Tampering – Suspect Arrested
August 23 at 3:57 a.m., an employee from a business in the 700 block of E. Central arrived for work and saw a male suspect going through vehicles. The suspect had the doors and engine hoods open. Officers arrived and detained the suspect. The vehicles had been left unlocked and appeared ransacked. The suspect had a small amount of cash on him that was possibly taken from the vehicles. The officers arrested the suspect for vehicle tampering.

Residential Burglary
August 23 at 2:37 p.m., a residential burglary was reported in the 400 block of W. Hillcrest. The victims came home and discovered someone had forced entry into the back of their house and had stolen items from the home. The investigation is ongoing.

Theft from a Vehicle
August 23 at 10:25 p.m., a theft from a vehicle was reported in the 700 block of W. Colorado. A rental vehicle was left unlocked and a backpack which contained an iPad and iPad accessories was taken from the front passenger floorboard. The investigation is continuing.

Domestic Violence – Suspect Arrested
August 24 at 2:29 a.m., officers responded to a domestic violence incident in the 200 block of E. Colorado. A husband and wife were involved in an argument and the wife punched the husband in the nose. The husband had a bloody nose and paramedics were called to the scene. The male was treated for his injury. The female subject was determined to be the aggressor and was arrested and taken into custody.

Warrants / Possession of a Controlled Substance / Possession of Drug Paraphernalia – Suspect Arrested
August 24 at 7:50 a.m., officers were on patrol in the 300 block of W. Foothill and observed a subject they knew had warrants for his arrest. The officer contacted the subject, confirmed the warrants, and asked the subject if he had any contraband on his person. The subject told the officer he had a used syringe and methamphetamine on his person. He was arrested and taken into custody for the warrants and the drug charges.

Warrants / Possession of Drug Paraphernalia – Suspect Arrested
August 24 at 3:35 p.m., an officer on patrol observed a male adult subject walking in the 500 block of W. Colorado carrying an open container of hard alcohol. When the officer stopped to speak with the subject, he could smell alcohol emitting from the subject. During the contact, the officer discovered the subject had an outstanding warrant and the subject was arrested. During a pat-down search incident to the subject’s arrest, a methamphetamine pipe and syringe were located on his person.

Theft From a Vehicle
August 24 at 6:29 p.m., a theft from a vehicle was reported in the 500 block of Bradbury. The victim parked the vehicle and locked the doors, but left the windows down. The suspect entered the vehicle and took a wallet containing credit cards. Approximately 30 minutes later, a male and female subject used one of the credit cards to purchase merchandise at a location in Duarte. The investigation is continuing.

Stolen Vehicle Recovered
August 24 at 6:58 p.m., a resident in the 200 block of W. Greystone called police to report suspicious activity involving a vehicle. Officers arrived and ran a DMV check on the vehicle and found it had been reported stolen the previous day. The vehicle was recovered and returned to its owner.