Safe caper stymies detectives

At least six thefts occurred at Southern California businesses since last January

More than a year after several safes were vandalized from the back rooms of local businesses, detectives in at least two counties are looking for answers.

In January 2022, a food delivery worker making a stop at Wood Ranch in Stevenson Ranch arrived in the early-morning hours and noticed pieces of drywall on the floor inside the restaurant near the manager’s office and reported the damage.

Deputies from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station responded, and reported the damage inside the restaurant was much worse: The glass patio door was smashed, the door handle to the manager’s office had been broken off and makeshift holes were drilled into the drywall in the kitchen and the manager’s office.

In addition to the more than $5,500 in damage reported to the walls and the doors, there was one other interesting note found in court documents obtained by The Signal: The thief or thieves made off with more than $26,000 in a pair of safes that had been cut into with an electric hand circular saw.

During the course of their investigation, the investigating detectives were also contacted by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, which suspected the same burglar was responsible for a theft of nearly $4,000 from a safe at the Wood Ranch restaurant in Moorpark.

A similar modus operandi also was utilized in four other commercial burglaries that took place the week prior, according to court records, which mentions a suspect who brought a backpack containing the saw and a hammer to the other locations as well.

An SCV Sheriff’s Station official confirmed last week that no arrest had been made in the investigation.