Police Capture Burglary Suspect Near Woodland Hills Strip Mall

A suspected thief who used a crowbar to dig through the walls of a row of stores in a Woodland Hills strip mall ended up behind bars after he tripped a burglar alarm while bashing his way through, police reported Monday.

John Crawford, 37, was taken into custody about 1:30 a.m. after officers chased him from the shopping center in the 19300 block of Ventura Boulevard, said Detective Tony Finchen of the Los Angeles Police Department. Crawford allegedly threw the crowbar at the officers during his escape attempt but surrendered after an officer fired a shot at him. The shot missed.

Police were called to the center after a silent alarm in a tobacco store was triggered. Finchen said the intruder had broken into a vacant shop and then used the bar to dig through a wall into the tobacco store. He then dug through a wall in the tobacco store into an adjoining computer store.

Finchen said Crawford, who was being held on suspicion of burglary, assault and resisting arrest, was in the computer store when police arrived.

Finchen said there have been numerous similar burglaries in the area in recent months and investigators are attempting to determine if Crawford was involved in those.