BURGLARS OFTEN DRUG ABUSERS

WHITTIER - Like most people who have been burglarized, Mianca and
Jeremy Wakefield first felt violated and vulnerable.

Then they asked the question burglary victims inevitably ask:

"What kind of people do that?" Mianca wondered.

According to police, the typical burglar is young, in their 20s or
30s, and usually has a previous history of burglary. Almost always,
they have a drug habit to feed. Most often, the drug is methamphetamine.

"For the most part, burglars are narcotics users looking for quick
money," said Whittier police Detective Jose Escobedo, who specializes
in investigating burglaries.

"They know that by stealing items such as cameras, DVDs, VCRs - those
are quick resale items. They can get $25 or so for those in minutes."

The burglars he interviews are usually opportunistic thieves,
Montebello Police Detective Randy Thomas said.

"Generally, they have no remorse. They don't feel bad about what
they've done, they merely feel bad about being apprehended," said
Thomas. "Their goal is usually to steal enough to get by."

Burglaries were down for all of last year in Montebello compared with
2004, with 300 reported in 2005, compared to 323 in 2004. Statistics
for the first half of this year were not immediately available.

In Whittier, so far this year there has been an average of about 35
residential and commercial burglaries a month - about the same as in
2005. For all of last year, there were 426 burglaries, down from 455 in 2004.

In Pico Rivera, there were 103 reported burglaries from Jan. 1
through May 31 of this year, or about 20 burglaries per month. In
2005, reported burglaries averaged about 22 per month, down from an
average of 29 in 2004.

But La Mirada saw a 26 percent increase in reported burglaries in
2005 - from 243 in 2004 to 307 last year.

"We had a rash of thefts at our fitness centers," La Mirada City
Manager Andrea Travis said, in response Advertisementto the increase.
"Once we got some people in custody, we saw a decline."

In the Wakefields' case, authorities believe the arrest of two
suspects ended a spree of at least six burglaries that began shortly
after Christmas and ended with the arrests in April, Escobedo said.

The Wakefields lost a video game system, Mianca's laptop computer,
her husband's guitar and her baby's birth certificate, among other items.

It happened in the time it took Mianca to go shopping.

"I was living with the blinds closed after that," she said. "We put
dark sheets over the windows, because I was afraid people were
looking in. We got a dog."

Whittier police said two people suspected of burglarizing the
Wakefields' home were arrested on April 7 as they were loading items
taken from a home near Michigan Park into their car.

Priscilla Ceja, 22, and Joseph Mendoza, 25, both of Pico Rivera, are
charged with six felony counts of burglary and two counts of
receiving stolen property.

They remain in jail while they await trial.

Escobedo, who interviewed the pair, said they admitted to
burglarizing homes for drug money.

"A lot of times, \ not thinking rationally," said Detective Gil
Marquez of the Los Angeles County sheriff's Pico Rivera Station.
"Their only mindset is to obtain money to get drugs. They tell you
later they don't realize what they're doing."

"It all revolves around meth," agreed Escobedo. "That's where it all starts."