When Terri Tippit opened the door of her Rancho Park home last week, a man stood before her and introduced himself as part of a "literacy program." Then he asked if she was a teacher like her neighbor. Tippit, who was home alone, was suspicious -- how did a stranger know her neighbor was a teacher?
"I told him, I don't do door-to-door [solicitations]," she said. "Then I did an e-mail blast immediately to my people and said there's someone going through the neighborhood right now. Do not talk to them. Do not give information. Just say no."
Earlier this month, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced that crime had reached historic lows. But a growing number of people on the Westside have come to believe that they are in the midst of a mini-crime wave, especially with the recent series of home invasion robberies targeting elderly women.
On Monday, police arrested a suspect, Jeffrey Wayne Langford, 53, in the robberies. The news prompted relief on the part of some homeowners, but others remain wary.
Len Solomon, 66, and his wife, Pat, 61, who have lived in their Ashby Avenue home since 1973, said they recently joined a homeowners group because of the robberies. He welcomed the news of an arrest, but Len Solomon said it is possible that there was more than one individual involved. His wife was a little more apprehensive.
"If I was living by myself, I would seriously consider moving," she said.
Throughout the Westside, residents are discussing the robberies as well as such things as an iPod stolen from someone's car, the local supermarket parking lot's transients, the latest drug bust and alleys recently covered in gang graffiti.
Tippit, who has lived in Rancho Park for nearly 35 years, is chairwoman of the Westside Neighborhood Council and president of the West of Westwood Homeowners Assn.
She and her neighbors, like many throughout the city, have started to band together and revive their Neighborhood Watch groups.
Tippit said she believes that over the last year, the Westside has seen an increase in burglaries, thefts from cars break-ins and, most recently, home invasions.
"It seemed like once that other crime increased, with break-ins of cars and break-ins of houses, once that crime increased, it seemed like other ones came with it," she said.
Citywide, violent crime is down 6% from the beginning of the year through mid-August, and robbery is down 5%, according to the LAPD. Property crimes are down 5%.
