> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Break-ins put locals on edge - URL: https://www.smdp.com/break-ins-put-locals-on-edge/ - Published: 2007-08-10T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T02:33:22.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: local, Sunset Park, #archive-import *By Daily Press Staff Writer* SUNSET PARK When Nancy Pierandozzi returned from a summer vacation, she got an unpleasant surprise. While out of town in mid-July, her home was burglarized, the culprit claiming several pieces of jewelry and her son’s Cooperstown baseball bag. Through her 14 years as a resident of Sunset Park, few things had been tampered with at the Pierandozzi home — a Santa Claus prop and a couple of pumpkins outside. This latest incident, in which the perpetrators allegedly struck in broad daylight and entered through her back-yard, came as a shock. “It was a big mess,” she said on Thursday, in reference to the July 20 break-in. “They tore everything up.” Neighbors have noted that incidents of home burglaries, car break-ins and vandalism have been more prevalent in this southeastern Santa Monica neighborhood in recent months, putting the small community on high alert of suspicious activity. Colin Maduzia, who lives near Pierandozzi, was tasked with watering his neighbor’s lawn while she was out of town. One day, he arrived at the house to see the gate ajar, a chair suspiciously propped against the wall and found the back doors were wide open. He initially thought that a friend or relative was staying in the home while Pierandozzi was away... until he noticed the home in complete disarray. “The place was completely ransacked,” Maduzia said on Wednesday. Santa Monica Police have noticed the increase in burglaries in the Sunset Park neighborhood — bounded by Centinela Avenue to the east, Lincoln Boulevard to the west, Ocean Park Boulevard to the north and the city limits to the south. Police came to address the issue during the Friends of Sunset Park annual membership meeting in June. Police have stepped up enforcement efforts in the neighborhood over the past few months, sending out more uniformed and plainclothes police, said SMPD Lt. Alex Padilla on Thursday. At least two suspects have been arrested in the area over the past few weeks for being in possession of burglary tools and stolen property. One man was arrested on July 24 at Pier Avenue and 24th Street, caught with lock picks and key cutters. Another suspect was arrested three days later, at Ocean Park Boulevard and 16th Street, also caught with burglary tools, Padilla said. Several of the burglars have targeted vehicles. Ellen Mark has been the victim of vandalism and car break-ins three times in the past five months, the first incident taking place at the end of March, when a window was smashed in. Nothing was reported missing from the car. Her husband went outside on July 10 to find that the front and rear tires had been punctured with a nail, situated in a location where it was obviously intentional, police told Mark. “Police said that it was not random,” she said on Wednesday. “We were spooked when we heard that.” Another incident on July 28 didn’t ease her nerves, the window of the car was smashed and her daughter’s digital music player stolen. Timothy Maher, who has lived near the corner of Cloverfield Boulevard and Pearl Street for three years, found someone had rifled through his belongings in his sport utility vehicle in April, though nothing was missing. “The dealership said that a lot of times, the SUVs are broken into to steal the third row seat,” Maher said Thursday. Contributing to the increases of burglaries is the hot summer weather, forcing the air conditioner-less residents to keep their windows open and doors unlocked when they run out for a quick errand. “When it gets hot, people forget they left their backdoor open... and don’t go back and check windows to make sure they’re locked and secured,” Padilla said. With the recent narcotics-related arrests made in the Pavilions Motel on Ocean Park Boulevard, combined with stepped up enforcement and extra vigilance by residents, police are hopeful for a decrease in the number of burglaries and car break-ins. “Sometimes when you arrest drug addicts, they tend to be involved with other criminal activity,” Padilla said. A drop in burglaries is what Erin King is hoping for after a construction trailer on the site of her future home was broken into on July 27\. Approximately $5,000 worth of construction equipment was stolen from the trailer, which is located at Ashland Avenue and 16th Street. Because of the significant loss, the construction company now leaves with the equipment at the end of each work day, King said on Thursday. The incident was surprising, considering the trailer was secured with a heavy duty lock that she thought was safe from cutters. “I’ve noticed recently there seemed to be even graffiti in the alleyway,” King said, commenting on the increase of criminal activity. “It just seems like it’s a rash of activity.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 10, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081007.pdf?ref=smdp.com)