BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Grocery store shoplifting suspect sought

Police have issued an alert to the public to be on the lookout for a young man suspected in a string of shoplifting crimes at Albertsons market in South Laguna.

Albertsons on Coast Highway has been burglarized three times in recent months, said Det. Darin Lenyi. In all the cases, the suspect entered the store, walked to the liquor section, took alcohol, and fled out the door without paying for the liquor.

After the last documented incident on Dec. 13, the suspect fled in a four-door import vehicle that was waiting outside.

The suspect is described as a white male, 18 to 25 years old, 5-foot-11 to 6-foot-2, with short brown hair, a thin build, wearing dark pants, a white T-shirt with large image of a woman’s profile, a gray ball cap, and black and white tennis shoes.

Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect should contact Community Safety Officer Coleen Walloch, at (949) 497-0382.

Two women held in thefts from vehicles

Two women were arrested early Dec. 31 on suspicion of stealing from multiple vehicles on Dunning Drive, while the young children of one suspect sat in their vehicle.

An officer on patrol saw the suspect vehicle, a Scion, parked in the center of the road at 4:05 a.m. Dec. 31 at Buena Vista Way and Canyon View Drive, said Sgt. Jason Kravetz.

The doors were open and the engine was on. The officer said two women came out from between two cars, and ran back to hide when they saw him. The officer confronted them and saw that apparently stolen items were at their feet. In the suspects’ vehicle, the officer found items from other parked vehicles.

Also inside the car were two 2-year-old children of one of the suspects.

The children were unharmed and were taken into protective custody until a relative came to retrieve them.

Recovered were $1,227 worth of items from a Toyota; $858 worth of items from a sport utility vehicle; and a $225 cellphone from a Yukon parked in a driveway, all on Dunning Drive.

The two arrested were Cynthia Lynn Werries, 28, of Palm Springs and Keah Rose Roscoe, 26, of Desert Hot Springs. They were each charged with grand theft, conspiracy to commit a crime, child endangerment, and possessing stolen property. Both were booked and taken to Orange County Jail, where they were held on $50,000 bail each, according to jail records.

Cabbie alleges riders assaulted him and fled

Police are investigating a cab driver’s allegation that he was assaulted by people in his cab at 5:08 a.m. Jan. 1 in the 30000 block of Coast Highway, Kravetz said.

The cabbie said he had five people in his cab, and some in the group were dropped off at Three Arch Bay, where they paid their share of the cab ride. As he drove the remaining group to their destination in Dana Point, a disagreement occurred. The remaining passengers allegedly started punching the cab driver, then jumped out of his cab and ran off.

Shots from a rooftop lead to man’s arrest

A Laguna Beach man was arrested after police were summoned on a report of two men shooting from a rooftop of a home on Radcliffe Court at 9:59 a.m. Jan. 1, Kravetz said.

Police determined the men were shooting bottles with a BB gun, but during the investigation learned that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of one of the men, Curt Ryan Crandall, 35, of Laguna Beach. Crandall was wanted due to a failure to appear notice on a citation for taking lobster during closed season.

Crandall was also arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance, Kravetz said.

Father, daughter punched in park in random attack

A man was accused of assaulting a teenager and her father in an apparently unprovoked attack at 10:09 a.m. Jan. 2 in the 300 block of Heisler Park, Kravetz said.

Michael Patrick Cowan, 37, of Garden Grove, allegedly punched both victims in the face.

The family was walking through the park when the suspect approached and allegedly punched the 18-year-old daughter. The father tried to intervene and was punched as well. After striking both of them, the suspect ran off, but was later arrested on assault and battery charges, and taken to Orange County Jail.

Unlicensed solicitors sought by police

Laguna Beach police are urging people to contact them about magazine solicitors, who have been selling door-to-door although they are not licensed to do so.

One solicitor, Ashley Marie Kelly, 20, of Cape Coral, Fla., was arrested at 7:20 p.m. Jan. 2 on suspicion of soliciting without a business license, Kravetz said. Residents had lodged complaints that she was going door-to-door in the South Laguna area trying to sell magazine subscriptions. When officers contacted her, she was allegedly uncooperative and this lead to her arrest on suspicion of soliciting without a business license.

“We have had lots of calls on these magazine sellers and urge the public to call the police department if they are harassed at home,” Kravetz said. “These young adults do not have a business license and cannot go door to door in attempts to sell these magazine subscriptions.”

Room burgled while victim at hospital

A man who was staying at a hotel in the 30000 block of Coast Highway reported that his room was burgled after he went to the hospital, Kravetz said.

The victim told police he had been having a party with people in a neighboring room, when he became so intoxicated he had to leave. The following morning he was found outside laying in vomit and was taken to the hospital for treatment. When he returned from the hospital, he reported $5,000 in items were missing from his room, including clothing and his passport.