Man charged with theft in home rental scheme

A Venice man was charged Thursday in connection with a scheme in which police said he posed as a landlord, showed vacant homes in the South Bay and San Diego to prospective tenants and collected thousands of dollars in security deposits.

Redondo Beach Police Sgt. Peter Grimm said Kenneth Colvin, 28, went so far as to break into a few of the empty dwellings to give tours to prospective renters who responded to an ad for rental property on the website craigslist.com.

Grimm said the ad has been removed.

Colvin was arraigned in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Torrance on two felony counts of grand theft and two felony counts of attempted grand theft.