Credit Card

The following incidents were taken from reports filed at the Glendale Police Station:   Lowell Avenue and the Foothill (210) Freeway: A 20-year-old Bakersfield woman was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of possession of marijuana.     600 block of East Elk Avenue: A 37-year-old Glendale man reported on Saturday that someone fraudulently charged $3,500 to his credit card.       East Chevy Chase Drive and Glendale Avenue: A 29-year-old Los Angeles man was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of drunken driving.

Transactions will boost donations For the next two months, Lockheed Federal Credit Union will make a donation to the American Red Cross for credit card or signature-based transactions. Each time one of its 100,000 members use a Lockheed Federal Credit Union Visa or make a credit card purchase with a Visa Check Card, the credit union will make a donation, which officials estimate will be more than $40,000. The donations will be made to benefit relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast.

Darleene Barrientos Police are warning the public of an increase of thefts from lockers and benches at the Brand Boulevard 24 Hour Fitness health club. Police officials say they have no leads about why incidents of theft have risen at the 240 N. Brand Blvd. location. "It's been an ongoing problem at the location," said Sgt. Ernie Garcia of the burglary division. "Over the last two months, there's been at least two incidents a week." A request for comment from the 24 Hour Fitness location was transferred to the club's public-relations firm, Ketchum P.R. in San Francisco, which released a statement.

The former general manager of Glendale Water & Power, who resigned abruptly last month after city officials started investigating his double-billing for an industry conference, is calling the issue a mistake. Former General Manager Glenn Steiger on Monday acknowledged that he double-billed the city for expenses related to a conference he attended on behalf of another organization, but said his decision to resign May 23, a day after city officials inquired about the receipts, was coincidental.

Alex Coolman CITY HALL -- Glendale is preparing to enter the plastic age with a city credit card plan that its proponents say will make purchasing less of a headache for employees. The plan, which will begin in the new year, is designed to cut down on paperwork and improve relations between the city and the businesses it buys from, said Chris Klein, purchasing administrator for Glendale. "Currently, you have to process a lot of orders that are for small dollar values," Klein said.

GLENDALE — Police soon will be equipped with new crime-fighting tools that will allow patrol officers to identify stolen credit cards on the spot, analyze audio-visual evidence and maneuver better in confined spaces. Grants from the Glendale Police Foundation will fund the purchase of load-bearing vests for Special Weapons and Tactics officers, credit card readers for patrol cars and video and audio equipment, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. The $2,500 mini-grants from the foundation come quarterly, mostly via fundraising and donations, member Nancy Michael said.

According to the California Department of Consumer Affairs, last year nine million people became victims of identity theft. One million of those were in the state of California. Holiday shopping is a very good opportunity for identity theft, said Charlene Zettle, director of the DCA. Zettle advises all consumers to take extra care during the busy holiday shopping season. "I understand that it is very busy time," Zettle said. "We can leave our purse on the counter for a moment, and that's all the time it takes for someone to get our information."

SigAlert called for motorcycle crash NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- A motorcyclist walked away Tuesday with a broken finger after being pummeled between two cars and going down on the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway, just south of Western Avenue. A car in the left lane lost control and struck the motorcyclist about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, California Highway Patrol Officer Vince Bell said. The motorcycle then lost control and hit another car, then went down in the right lane.

TUESDAY Brooks Street: A man told police that someone charged $3,000 to his credit card at 3:21 p.m. in the 31200 block. Pacific Avenue: Someone reportedly charged $1,691 to someone else's credit card at 11:49 a.m. in the 1200 block. MONDAY Skyline Drive: Tools were reportedly stolen from a job site at 10:01 a.m. in the 1500 block. Tree Top Lane: Someone reportedly pushed a golf cart over a hill at 9:31 a.m. in the 21600 block. SUNDAY Cozumel: A woman told police her car had been tampered with and she was receiving harassing phone calls at 5:27 p.m. in the 300 block.

Jackson Bell Now that the holiday shopping season has officially started, Glendale Police are encouraging residents to better protect themselves against the seasonal jump in financial crimes. Glendale residents and shoppers should be vigilant since the city's rate of credit card fraud and identification theft exceeds that of the averages for the state and Los Angeles and Riverside counties, Sgt. Todd Stokes said. Financial crime rates are even higher here than such regional cities as San Diego and Phoenix, said Stokes, who heads the department's financial crimes detail.