In the early hours of Sunday (25th), at 3 am, thieves drove a car to ram into a Chinese liquor store in Diamond Bar City, attempting theft but eventually fleeing. Since the beginning of this year, incidents of burglary in the residential areas of Chinese communities in the eastern part of Los Angeles, such as Rowland Heights, Walnut City, and nearby unincorporated areas, have been on the rise, causing concerns among Chinese business owners and residents.
The owner of the “Guojiu Maotai” liquor store in Diamond Bar City, Ms. Tong, told reporters that she received a call from the alarm company in the middle of the night after 3 am, and immediately checked the surveillance camera footage, revealing a vehicle resembling a U-Haul crossing the sidewalk and ramming into the store’s entrance twice. Luckily, the store had two doors, and while the outer glass door was damaged, the inner iron gate remained intact and wasn’t forced open. Unable to quickly grab anything, the thieves drove away upon realizing their failure.
Ms. Tong mentioned that a neighboring store also experienced a burglary last week, with the store’s iron lock sawed off and the glass door shattered. The thief rummaged through the counter and took over 100 dollars before leaving. She expressed her concern over the local security situation not improving since last year; fearing an increase in insurance premiums, she opted to bear the losses herself and did not report to the insurance company.
“Our storefront has a glass door on the outside and an iron gate inside, with the lock positioned inside, making it impossible for the thieves to directly saw off the lock, leading them to resort to ramming the door,” Ms. Tong explained, describing how the two large glass doors were shattered, with broken glass scattered all over. She estimated the cost of repairing the door to be around four thousand dollars.
The alarm Ms. Tong installed is directly connected to the police station, and upon the alarm ringing, the police generally arrive within 10 minutes. She sighed, stating, “We are very experienced, and our measures are very comprehensive, but we never expected thieves to resort to ramming the door with a car; it’s truly unpredictable.”
Incidents of thieves ramming into storefronts for theft purposes also occur in downtown Los Angeles. Just a week ago, a well-known sneaker chain store, Solestage in the Fairfax District, was also broken into by thieves using a vehicle, with the extent of the losses undisclosed. According to Fox News, local merchants feel that such crimes are becoming increasingly severe. A store owner was robbed twice within a few months, and cleaning up, repairing the door, consuming time and money, and affecting business operations, causing immense distress.
Not only are business owners targeted, but residents also continue to be victims of theft. Thieves observe the routines of homeowners and break into homes when no one is present. ABC 7 reported last week that the Irvine Police Department arrested a five-person criminal gang from Colombia who disguised themselves as deliverymen to break into homes through windows while residents were away.
Based on data from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, from January to April this year, Diamond Bar City saw a total of 141 incidents of burglary, marking a 35.58% increase compared to the same period last year; when combining several nearby cities, there was an overall year-on-year increase of 14.39%.
In the commercial plaza where Ms. Tong’s store is located and the opposite commercial plaza, stores are vandalized almost every month. She hopes that more police patrols can be arranged in areas where thefts frequently occur around her store. Assessing that the thieves are not local residents, at least coming from more than 10 kilometers away, Ms. Tong remarked, “Thieves usually don’t target businesses within a 3-kilometer range from their homes.”
The president of the “Community Patrol Everyone’s Responsibility Association” (TACF) in Los Angeles County, Ms. Guan Yixiu, also expressed helplessness towards these types of cases. She emphasized that it’s crucial to report such incidents to the police, enabling them to take it seriously and enhance crime prevention measures.
Ms. Guan mentioned that areas like Rowland Heights, where several Chinese communities reside, experienced disorderly security conditions during the Lunar New Year, which improved slightly post-celebration. She believed that the police department is constrained by insufficient funding, suggesting that allocating more budgets and funding could potentially increase police manpower and extend patrol hours.
She further advised residents of neighboring areas around Rowland Heights and other cities who are concerned about burglary at their homes when away to contact their volunteer team. They can arrange for regular patrols near their residential areas to reduce the risk of theft.
Discussing ways to prevent thieves, James Lynch, a professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland and former department head, told CNET media in San Francisco that there is a high positive correlation between installing alarm systems and preventing theft. Homeowners or store owners who have already been robbed must install security alarm systems to avoid becoming victims again.
Furthermore, Lynch advised that exterior doors should be sturdy enough to prevent easy kicking. He also warned that the probability of being robbed again within 10 days after a theft is high since thieves may have figured out ways to bypass the security systems to break in.
Ms. Tong also reminded business owners to take preventive measures themselves, emphasizing the installation of iron gates inside the store to prevent thieves from easily succeeding in theft. ◇