SELLING LOOT ONLINE BURGLARS TURNING TO INTERNET AUCTION HOUSES TO SELL THEIR STASH.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writer

As burglaries rise across Los Angeles, police said they discovered a new, disturbing trend: Internet auctions are the newest way for thieves to sell their loot.

No one knows how much of the 11 percent citywide rise in burglaries can be linked to the market created by Internet auctions, but detectives say computers have changed the nature of break-ins - and the recovery of stolen property.

Los Angeles Police Department personnel scouring Internet auction sites have found at least four stolen items in the past year.

And the FBI reports Los Angeles is not alone in what is becoming a national trend.

``Obviously, because of the anonymity of the Internet and people being able to find a very large market, this is going to be a new and lucrative way to dispose of property,'' said FBI Assistant Special Agent Patrick Patterson, who heads the violent crime program in Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, items found on the Internet have included a book from a special collections library at the University of California, Los Angeles, worth thousands of dollars and costly ``Peanuts'' animation art stolen in the San Fernando Valley.

Currently, police are trying to unravel who purchased a $50,000 painting stolen during a burglary and sold on an online auction.

The problem, detectives said, is there are too few police officers to study the Internet auction sites that turn items around within a few weeks.

``We'd have to have a full-time Internet crew to scour the Internet,'' said Detective Donald Hrycyk of the LAPD's art theft detail unit. ``We need a better way of searching. There's so many sites to pay to get in.''

George Tannous, the chief executive officer at BidBay.com, an Internet auction site located in Tujunga, said that like other sites, he requires no proof of ownership of goods sold on his site.

``They can provide a dummy name, register under a PO box, sell the item and get paid,'' he said Friday.

Since his site was launched Jan. 15, he said, no stolen merchandise has been identified. But that does not mean it's not there, he added.

``There's no way of verifying it,'' he said. ``If somebody calls us and says someone is selling a stolen item, we will investigate it.''

Computers are fueling burglaries in another way, particularly in the LAPD's West Valley Division, where burglaries rose 16 percent from last year to this year, Jan. 1 through Aug. 31.

Lt. George Rock attributes the increase in part to a computer crime of a different sort: Identity theft.

Stealing info

Rather than VCRs, jewelry and cell phones, burglars are now stealing confidential paperwork in victims' homes, Rock said.

``Within the past year, suspects are acquiring information on victim's Social Security numbers and birth certificates. We've noticed an increase in stolen paperwork,'' he said.

The burglars then head to a computer, where they use programs to create false checks, driver's licenses and Social Security cards.

``Within a few weeks, the victim of a burglary becomes an additional victim of identity theft,'' Rock said.

Citywide, residential and commercial burglaries rose 11 percent from 14,708 in 1999 to 16,325 through Sept. 9 of this year, according to Los Angeles police statistics.

Valleywide, burglaries rose 9.4 percent, with 5,227 in 1999 and 5,718 this year.

Every police division in the Valley saw increases.

In the Valley's Foothill Division, police arrested three men this month suspected of burglarizing more than 100 homes throughout the San Fernando Valley since late 1999.

Their target: laptop computers, computer games and guns.

``If they're as prolific as we think, it's going to impact the number of burglaries Valleywide,'' said LAPD Detective Gil Uribe of the Foothill Division.

They have each been charged with multiple counts of residential burglary.

Police searched their homes and recovered some of the items that at least 15 victims identified as theirs at the station during the week the property was recovered, Uribe said.

One victim, a resident of Arleta, got back a gun, three pieces of jewelry and a game system taken from his home.

A larger loss

But he took a larger loss: When the thieves could not unbolt his new 42-inch flat-screen wall TV worth $7,000, they decided to destroy it by scratching it with a can opener, Uribe said.

``If they didn't get the loot they wanted, they'd trash the place,'' the detective said.

The victim, who declined to identify himself in fear of becoming a victim again, said the damage will cost him $2,000 to repair.

``I feel violated,'' the victim said. ``If they couldn't take it, why vandalize it? It takes a real lowlife with a bad heart to do that.''

Detectives were unsure whether this group of thieves had posted any of their loot on an Internet auction site, but agreed that the practice is becoming increasingly popular.

``On the Internet, anything goes and anywhere,'' said Detective Gilbert Escontrias of the LAPD's Burglary Auto Theft Division in downtown Los Angeles. ``And, most of the time, you don't know who these sellers are.''

Unlike a secondhand dealer, pawn shop and swap meet, there is no way to regulate online auction sellers, detectives said, with no licensing or proof of ownership required.

However, the less sophisticated criminal is in some cases making it more useful for police to identify stolen goods by displaying pictures of the items online, detectives said.

In the case of the stolen UCLA book, a university employee saw the ``University of California'' stamp on the publication displayed on eBay's auction site.

`A two-edged sword'

``It's a two-edged sword. It's giving crooks anonymity. On the other hand, it's allowing us to recover stolen art that we previously would not be able to locate,'' Hrycyk said.

EBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove acknowledged that identifying the thief online is difficult, especially with close to 5 million items available on his site daily.

But he said that within the past year his site has increased its safeguards to prevent stolen items from being sold online, including requiring all sellers to post credit cards.

``If we come across any stolen merchandise,'' he said, ``we contact the authorities.''

SAFETY TIPS

The following are tips to avoid becoming a burglary victim, according to the Los Angeles Police Department:

-- Write down serial numbers and photograph important property, such as furniture, jewelry and electronic products.

-- In your vehicle, don't leave valuables in a visible spot.

-- Identify things that can contribute to crime: poor street lighting, abandoned cars and vacant lots. Help organize a neighborhood clean- up/fix-up day.

-- Secure sliding glass doors with commercially available locks or with a broomstick in the track to jam the door in case somebody tries to pry it open. Insert a pin in a drilled hole in the door frame to prevent someone from lifting door off track.

-- Don't hide keys in mailboxes, planters or under doormats. Instead, give an extra key to a trustworthy neighbor.

-- When moving into a new home, have the locks changed.

-- Trim shrubbery that hides doors or windows. Cut tree limbs so thieves can't climb into windows.

-- Turn on outside lights after dark to illuminate porches, entrances and yards in front and back.

-- Store ladders and tools inside locked garage or storage units when not using them.

-- Put lights and a radio on timers to create the illusion that someone is home when you're vacationing.

-- Stop the mail and newspapers or ask a neighbor to save them.

-- When returning home, if you see a cut screen, broken window or door ajar, don't go in. Instead, call the police from a neighbor's house.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box, chart

Photo:

(1 -- color) Members of the Dekermenjian family, left, and Bogle family, right, sort through recovered loot at the Foothill Division.

(2 -- color) LAPD Detectives George Morales and Kevin Foster examine possibly stolen items found during the search of a burglary suspect's home in Panorama City.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

Box: SAFETY TIPS (See text)

Chart: BURGLARIES INCREASE CITYWIDE

SOURCE: LAPD

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