Janine Marnien
A rash of vending machine break-ins in the area have the Crescenta
Valley Sheriff's Station and the Glendale Police Department working
together to find who is responsible.
Vending machines in about 20 locations in the foothill area and
Glendale have been broken into since April, and the crimes appear to
be similar, Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station Det. Gary Stead said.
"We're going to look at the different reports to see if the same
method was used on each of the machines," he said. "It will be an
ongoing investigation until the person or persons responsible are
caught."
Stead added that fingerprints taken from the machines would also
be analyzed.
Machines at Rosemont Middle School, Crescenta Valley High School,
the Crescenta-Canada YMCA and La Canada High School have been hit.
Six machines at La Canada High were vandalized between Monday night
and Tuesday morning.
"It's an easy swipe," said Deputy Patrick Murphy, the school's
resource officer. Murphy added that money spent for vending machine
products sits in the machine until the machine owner collects it.
Close to $10,000 in damage has been done to machines in Glendale,
Glendale Police Department Investigator Danny Carver said. Figures
were not available from the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station.
Carver said that there were no leads in the case.
"We're asking people to keep their eyes open near schools," he
said.
