Glendale resident walks in on burglars ransacking his bedroom

A South Glendale resident returned home Monday to discover two burglars — possibly connected to a recent spate of “knock-knock” break-ins — ransacking his bedroom, police said.

Witnesses reported seeing two men knock on his front door about 12:23 p.m. in the 1400 block of Verd Oaks Drive, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. When no one answered, witnesses told police that the men walked around to the back door.

When the homeowner arrived and found the men inside the first-floor bedroom, the men fled through a balcony and the backyard, Lorenz said.

They reportedly fled the neighborhood in a gray, Infiniti sedan.

The men’s method of breaking into the home, police say, has been commonly used by a larger network of thieves who have been targeting affluent neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley and Glendale.

Police said the group, made up of South Los Angeles gang members, ransacks homes to steal jewelry, cash, computers, iPods and other electronic devices.

The thieves typically burglarize homes in neighborhood with direct access to nearby freeways for quick escapes.

While it’s too early to determine whether the Verd Oaks thieves were part of the same network, Lorenz said “it looks like it and it feels like it.”

If the burglary is connected to the criminal group, it would be the first incident since April.

After several burglaries and arrests that month, police have stepped up their presence in neighborhoods near freeway on-ramps.

Glendale detectives have also been working with the Los Angeles Police Department in identifying and tracking down the burglars.

Last week, Los Angeles police released photographs of more than 3,000 pieces of jewelry and watches, which they said were likely tied to crime spree.

-- Veronica Rocha, Times Community News

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA