Encino community leaders asked Mayor Karen Bass to improve safety after a deadly home invasion and other break-ins in the San Fernando Valley Hillside neighborhood.
“American Idol” music director Robin Kaye and her rock musician husband Tom Deluca were killed earlier this month at their home in Encino. Hayvenhurst Avenue’s “Beverly Hills Real Housewives” star Teddi Mellencamp was also targeted by three intruders last week and entered the property.
According to residents, two other thefts have occurred in recent weeks, including an incident on Ostrom Street where the homeowner shot a 14-year-old invader.
The Los Angeles Police Department responded to the rise in violence by adding patrols and adding horse riding officials.
But some neighbors are still too afraid to leave their homes, said Rob Glushon, president of the Encino Property Owners Association. “People are scared,” he told reporters. “People are angry.”
Glushon and other leaders hope that Bass and LAPD will set up a real-time crime monitoring center at the local police station, similar to one in Beverly Hills. They also hope to have a new police substation in Encino, drones track suspicious cars and crimes, license plate readers at major intersections, and weekly public meetings with LAPD chief Jim McDonnell.
Beth spokesman Clara Karger said some of the requirements the Encino community leaders have been added. In addition to increasing patrols, the city has deployed license plate readers and is working with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s burglary/robbery task force to target organized crime rings.
“Last year, we took urgent action to successfully address a range of crime problems in the valley, and our response efforts have helped us. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure Angelens’ safety,” Karger said. “The crime rate fell last year and the total number of homicides is expected to be the lowest in 60 years.”
Plans are held Thursday night with bass and bass, with Congressman Nithya Raman, State Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) and Glushon and other neighborhood leaders.
Los Angeles County. Atti. Nathan Hochman met with Encino residents last week at a crowded town hall in the latest violence. He told the crowd last week that as a lifelong Angeleno, the twin killing was personal to him.
“The government owe you one thing, and that’s security,” Hawkman said. “Robin and Tom didn’t experience safety that night. Security failed them.”
Kaye and DeLuca, both 70 years old, died in their home for four days when police found their bodies during welfare checks because neighbors called police to worry that they hadn’t seen or heard them in a few days.
This marks the third time in recent months when LAPD officials went to the San Fernando Valley location after receiving a 911 call and leaving, but later returned to the homicide.
Investigators said the body of Menashe Hidra was found in his fifth-floor Valley Village apartment on April 26 when an attacker broke into a nearby unit, jumped from the balcony to Hidra’s unit and attacked him.
Neighbors called 911 and reportedly heard shouts and struggles in the apartment. The officer responded to the calls, knocked down the door and found nothing. A 27-year-old man was later charged with killing Sidra.
On the same day as Sidra’s body was found, police found the body of Aleksandre Modebadze, who was beaten to death at his home in Woodland Hills. In that case, a woman called LAPD at home around 12:30 a.m. and reported that three people broke into her house and beat her other important things before the phone was suddenly cut off.
Sources told the Times that the officer arrived at the home shortly before 1 a.m. but no one answered the door. Hours after the incident, authorities discovered the alleged killer of Modebadze.
Glushon said Thursday that LAPD needs to study its policies on entering families. “Obviously there is a problem,” he said.
Locals also said Thursday they were also concerned about the famous “party house” next door where Kaye and DeLuca live, and described seeing multiple cars without license plates in the area.
Encino resident Vlad Gold, 49, said Encino thefts were common but he is now considering raising a guard dog after the couple was murdered. “This is terrible,” he said.
Times worker Richard Winton contributed to the report.
