In a bold, systematic hit on a landmark Ventura Boulevard office building, burglars stole scores of computers from at least 60 of the 80 businesses there, taking machines containing sensitive legal documents, credit card numbers and the tax information of thousands of people, police said Saturday.
The overnight theft at the Chateau Office Building in Woodland Hills left accountants, a talent agent, property management companies, attorneys and other businesses in the three-story structure scrambling to assess their losses as police scoured the premises.
Deputy Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department said that computers, some files and other items were taken from the 60 businesses. The theft was discovered Saturday morning.
"It is unusual for the number of businesses hit and the scale," he said of the crime.
Several business owners said they were taken aback by the brazenness of the theft, which deprived them of their computers but left behind other valuable equipment, including monitors, faxes, copiers and printers. Several concluded that the thieves' target must have been the information contained on their hard drives, not property.
One businessman said the credit card numbers of 7,000 clients were stolen. Accountant Richard Levy said his stolen computer held the tax documents of 800 clients. Attorney Marshall Bitkower said only three computers were taken from his office, but "they had all kinds of stuff. Everything: people's names, credit cards, clients, e-mails back and forth -- who knows what."
"We're talking about computers with thousands of credit cards and files," said Anthony Muzichenko, the owner of L.A. Management, who lost 25 computers. "There are going to be thousands of victims."
Police Lt. Jay Roberts said investigators are looking at people familiar with the building and its security system.
Late Saturday, police were still determining the extent of the crime. The thieves did not ransack or damage the building. No one was injured.
Building manager Bruce Abrams, who put the number of businesses affected at 10 to 15, considerably lower than police reports, said it appeared the thieves had a master key.
"They systematically got into the offices," Abrams said. "It looks like they had a superkey."
The heist had some hallmarks of a whodunit:
