http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix.htm
January 5, 2005 -- GLAMOROUS parts of L.A. and its suburbs, including Bel Air, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and much of Beverly Hills, are under siege by gangs of burglars who have made off with tens of millions of dollars in loot, Vanity Fair magazine reports.
The thieves are making monkeys of the private companies that install easily-bypassed motion detectors and alarms, as well as local cops who can't find any clues.
While most victims asked for anonymity, the magazine names photographer Davis Factor, great-grandson of cosmetics icon Max Factor who now has dogs, lights, cameras, "the works" and jewelry designer Loree Rodkin.
Michael Schnayerson reports, "Most commonly the crews are Russian, or Cuban, or Mexican, or Colombian. Their members enter the country illegally, with false papers making it almost impossible for law enforcement to identify them."
The bandits may have figured out that the LAPD has only 9,000 cops, compared to the NYPD, which has 35,000, and there are a lot more square miles to cover in L.A.
"We just don't have enough police either in our poorest or our wealthiest areas," L.A. Police Chief Bill Bratton said.
Besides the ski-masked crews, there's a thief known as the Bel Air Burglar who looks in fuzzy surveillance videos to be white, in his 40s with gray hair. Blamed for as many as 40 heists, he strikes while the victims are at dinner parties, seeming to know exactly where their valuables are.
Al Radi, founder of ACS Security, which has much of the business in Bel Air, told Vanity Fair: "I wouldn't be surprised if he rents a home in the area. Part of me says this guy does it just for the fun of it. He's taken close to $400,000 in cash. With all this heat going on, you would think that he would take a vacation for a little while."
It's hard to work up much sympathy for the pampered victims. One of their biggest security risks is all the servants, gardeners and tradesmen who work on their estates.
Vanity Fair says: "Last May, a series of burglaries in Irvine, Calif., an hour and a half to the south of L.A., led to the arrests of two armed guards employed by ADT Security Services" the other company besides ACS with the lion's share of the Bel Air business.
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/makes note to review ADT bill...
L.A. only has 9,000 cops? :lol
January 5, 2005 -- GLAMOROUS parts of L.A. and its suburbs, including Bel Air, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and much of Beverly Hills, are under siege by gangs of burglars who have made off with tens of millions of dollars in loot, Vanity Fair magazine reports.
The thieves are making monkeys of the private companies that install easily-bypassed motion detectors and alarms, as well as local cops who can't find any clues.
While most victims asked for anonymity, the magazine names photographer Davis Factor, great-grandson of cosmetics icon Max Factor who now has dogs, lights, cameras, "the works" and jewelry designer Loree Rodkin.
Michael Schnayerson reports, "Most commonly the crews are Russian, or Cuban, or Mexican, or Colombian. Their members enter the country illegally, with false papers making it almost impossible for law enforcement to identify them."
The bandits may have figured out that the LAPD has only 9,000 cops, compared to the NYPD, which has 35,000, and there are a lot more square miles to cover in L.A.
"We just don't have enough police either in our poorest or our wealthiest areas," L.A. Police Chief Bill Bratton said.
Besides the ski-masked crews, there's a thief known as the Bel Air Burglar who looks in fuzzy surveillance videos to be white, in his 40s with gray hair. Blamed for as many as 40 heists, he strikes while the victims are at dinner parties, seeming to know exactly where their valuables are.
Al Radi, founder of ACS Security, which has much of the business in Bel Air, told Vanity Fair: "I wouldn't be surprised if he rents a home in the area. Part of me says this guy does it just for the fun of it. He's taken close to $400,000 in cash. With all this heat going on, you would think that he would take a vacation for a little while."
It's hard to work up much sympathy for the pampered victims. One of their biggest security risks is all the servants, gardeners and tradesmen who work on their estates.
Vanity Fair says: "Last May, a series of burglaries in Irvine, Calif., an hour and a half to the south of L.A., led to the arrests of two armed guards employed by ADT Security Services" the other company besides ACS with the lion's share of the Bel Air business.
- - - - -
/makes note to review ADT bill...
L.A. only has 9,000 cops? :lol