"The Back Door Bandit" is seen removing items from a business in Santa Monica on January 15, 2021.
The back door bandit is still at large!
Santa Monica merchants remained on edge this weekend as a suspected serial burglar continues to evade police.
“Somebody’s not doing their job,” Ari Gati, owner of Beverly Hills Regenerative Medicine on Montana Avenue, tells The Sun.
The perp — described as a thin black male, mid 20s with dreadlocks and a thin mustache — is believed to be connected to more than a half dozen “crimes of opportunity” at businesses from Wilshire Boulevard to Montana Avenue.
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On each occasion he has entered the establishments through open or unlocked rear doors.
Santa Monica Police believe the suspect is responsible for cash and property taken from Dagwoods Pizza, Cha Spa, Coco Luxe Nails, Beverly Hills Regenerative Medicine, Great Labels, Fireside Health Center and The Fairmont Hotel.
“It’s upsetting,” says Liz Goldman of Tabb & Sparks salon on Montana Avenue. “Am I surprised? Not really.”
A video recording obtained by The Sun shows the individual entering BHRM at 1205 1/2 Montana Avenue around noon on January 15 as staff were busy attending to customers.
After quickly scoping out the scene, he grabs two cell phones and a wallet.
“It is definitely the same guy,” Gati said.
“He has the same (Bart Simpson) backpack. We have very visible cameras as well and he doesn’t seem to care.”
Dagwoods, at 820 Wilshire Boulevard, installed a new surveillance system after experiencing a break in last spring. Its cameras caught clear images of what appears to be the same individual entering an employees locker area on May 1.
General manager Mark Peters said the suspect made off with a wallet, digital camera, Apple Watch and wedding ring that belonged to an employee.
“We’re trying to keep the back door closed and locked as much as possible now,” he tells The Sun. “We also installed a sensor on the back door that chimes in the kitchen when it senses movement.”
Less than a week after the burglary at Dagwoods, an employee at Great Labels, 1126 Wilshire Boulevard, encountered the same individual standing in the rear of her boutique.
Later, manager Andrea Weiss discovered she was missing a leather wallet filled with cash. Her co-worker was also missing cash and could not locate her drivers license until it was returned by police.
It is unclear how it came into police possession.
“This all does not make me feel very safe,” said one Montana Avenue merchant who did not wish to be identified.
“He came to our back door and asked if we were a hair salon. My assistant said no, so he moved on to the next store and was trying to open the door!”
“We have been hit several times by big shoplifting. And it’s not just girls who steal a pair of underwear. These are people dressed to the nines who look like they belong in Beverly Hills and they come in and just stuff things (in their bags).
“I chased one down the street and when I asked for help no one would help me.”
The Montana Avenue Merchants Association says it has been communicating with shop owners about the situation.
“We keep telling everybody to keep their doors locked, Vice-Chairperson Jane Walker tells The Sun.
“But a lot of them still leave it open.”
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