TORRANCE TRIBUNE December 8, 2016 Page 3 “While the Saxons were making a run at the Pioneer League title, the Spartans were making a run to win a game. Any game.” We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Herald Publications Holiday Schedule Our offices will be closed the following days for the holidays. Friday, December 23 | Monday, December 26 | Friday, December 30 Community Briefs Torrance PD Community Pigeon Drop Advisory A Pigeon Drop is a confidence trick in which a mark or “pigeon” is persuaded to give up a sum of money and/or jewelry to prove trustworthiness and secure rights to additional money or more valuable property like bars of gold. The scammers--suspects usually work in pairs-- make off with the victim’s money/valuables, leaving the marks with nothing. These scams are perpetrated by adult males and females of all ages and races. Victims are male and female, all races, often elderly and initially approached by suspects in commercial parking lots during daytime hours. The suspects present different scenarios to include: 1. Having inherited a large sum of money and needing assistance donating to a church or other non-profit/philanthropic cause since they are not American citizens. For their assistance, victims are offered roughly $100,000. 2. Needing assistance cashing a winning lottery ticket since suspect is not a U.S. citizen. 3. Finding a bag of money in a parking lot and offering to split it with the victim. In these scenarios, one suspect first approaches the victim and later a second suspect inserts him or herself as a “stranger” willing to help. Suspects will often use the ruse of contacting a “lawyer” or “law firm” knowledgeable of their plight to aid in legitimizing themselves to the mark. During the scam, the suspect appears to put his money with the victim’s money (in an envelope, briefcase or bag) with which the mark is then entrusted. The combined money is actually not put in the bag or envelope, but switched for a bag full of cut-up paper/newspaper. It’s not uncommon for the scam to play out over the course of several hours as the victim and suspect(s) drive (in the victim’s car) to the bank to withdraw money, to the victim’s residence to obtain cash/jewelry, and to the final location where the victim is abandoned by the suspects after having been asked to obtain medicine in a drug store, make a phone call or drive around the block. In recent weeks, three victims fell prey to pigeon drops scams in Torrance. The victims were initially contacted by the suspects at the 21700 block of Western Ave, 190th and Anza and the 19800 block of Hawthorne. Click the following link to view bulletin: htt p : //www. torranceca.gov/TPD/ Documents/16-152_PUBLIC_PIGEON_ DROP_ADVISORY.pdf Report any information believed to be related to any criminal activity to the Torrance Police Department at 310-328-3456. • Police Briefs Police Reports Up and Adam North, South Ready to Reclaim Pioneer League By Adam Serrao The North High Saxons and the South High Spartans enter this basketball year having experienced two entirely different prior seasons. While the Saxons were making a run at the Pioneer League title, the Spartans were making a run to win a game. Any game. North’s success is something that the team will certainly try to duplicate in a year that has now just gotten underway. For South, anything can happen in a season with a blank slate, but head coach Leo Klemm would certainly have to be looking forward to his team’s first win and any sign of taking a step forward from a year ago. The Saxons’ successful campaign last year began after a discouraging start to the season. Head coach Gary Duperron and his club opened with three straight losses in the Westchester Tip-Off Classic and were left looking for answers. If there was any positive takeaway from the slow start, however, it was the fight that was inherent in the squad. North went on to rally in the next few contests and rattled off a five-game winning streak, while also victorious in eight out of nine. Once league play began, the Saxons were quite successful as well. A 7-3 overall record within their division was highlighted by a two-game sweep over South, an extremely close one-point overtime victory over West, and an 11-point victory over the eventual Pioneer League champion Torrance. While the Saxons didn’t have enough to overcome Torrance in the standings, the team did manage to finish in second place with an overall record of 15-12 (7-3 in league). That record was good enough to get Duperron and his North High squad into the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA playoffs where they were set for a first round date with the San Marcos Royals. San Marcos came out of the gate ready to play, and by the end of the night had close to a 30-point lead on North. The Saxons’ playoff run and season would end in the first round with an 80-52 loss. The Saxons are back and looking to make an impact early on in what is a season that is now in just its beginning stages. Despite losing two of its senior captains from a season ago in Shivan Ram and Isaiah Holmes, North has the potential to be a pretty stacked roster this year. Senior guard Gabe Nakano will be joined by junior power forward Saeed Galloway to head a list of returning players from last season. In addition to the services of those two, the Saxons will enjoy key contributions from Yusei Shigeta, Stephen Nwaiwu and Shea Eddington for what should be a pretty high-scoring team. North has already taken to the court to begin the season in the Trevor Ariza Tip-Off Classic. Despite an opening round loss to Narbonne in the team’s first game of the year, Duperron remains optimistic about his club. “I think this was a positive effort for our first game,” the coach explained. “Our point guards did well and our second group showed sparks.” Look for more sparks from the Saxons all season long in what should be a long, but exciting season. If any team is fearful of another long season, it’s the South High Spartans. South secured its first win of the season fairly early on last year, but those wins unfortunately came few and far between for Klemm and his young squad of players. The Spartans enjoyed victories over West Valley, Montebello, Monrovia and South Tahoe last season. Once league play began, there wasn’t much to be heard of from the Spartans. An overall record of 4-22 was good enough for last place in the Pioneer League standings, leaving South High with nowhere to go but up this season. A disappointing season was made even harder by an unsuccessful league play showing. Not only did the Spartans miss out on last year’s playoffs, but they were swept by North, West, Torrance and every other Pioneer League team in the 10-game divisional season. All of the stats listed above are certainly ones that Klemm would not like to relive, and he hopes to improve upon it this season. He and the Spartans will look to do so by regaining the services of one of their best players from a year ago, Jordan Tang. Along with Tang, Carl Richardson and Justin Chai will be joining back up with the green and white this season. The Spartans will lose a total of 11 seniors from their 15-man roster of a year ago. An opening day loss to Palos Verdes to start the season certainly doesn’t bode well for Klemm and the Spartans--but in what is a very long year, the team has a lot of time to improve upon its standing from 2015/16. Up next for South High is a date in the 56th Annual Valley Christian Tournament where the team will be looking to gain its first victory since last December. – Asixlion@earthlink.net Toy, Canned Food, Items for Homeless Drive The Toyota USA Automobile Museum will again serve as the community drop-off point for the annual holiday drive to help those less fortunate. From now to December 19, citizens can bring toys, books, canned foods, grocery gift cards and--for the homeless— toiletries, hats, gloves, blankets and jackets to the museum. The facility, located at 19600 Van Ness Avenue in Torrance, is open for deliveries weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. For large pick-ups, contact Susan Sanborn at the museum at 310-468-8726. • Sunday, November 20 Burglary-Auto Betw. 11/20 10:30:00 PM & 11/21 8:00:00 AM 2000 BLOCK CARSON ST. Suspect(s) smashes window for entry and takes property/backpack. Burglary-Auto 11/20 9:56 PM 20700 BLOCK MANHATTAN PL. Suspect(s) smashes window for entry and takes property/backpack, laptop. Burglary-Auto Betw. 11/20 9:22:21 PM & 11/20 9:22:38 PM 3300 BLOCK 180TH ST. Suspect(s) enters possibly unlocked vehicle, ransacks and takes property/credit card holder. Theft 11/20 8:08 PM 300 BLOCK PALOS VERDES BLVD. Suspect(s) takes property from parking garage/bicycle. Auto Theft-All Betw. 11/20 7:00:00 PM & 11/21 4:00:00 AM 21800 BLOCK WESTERN AVE. Stolen vehicle: ‘96 Chevrolet Tahoe. Auto Theft-All Betw. 11/20 7:00:00 PM & 11/21 4:00:00 AM 21800 BLOCK WESTERN AVE. Stolen vehicle: ‘96 Chevrolet Corvette. Auto Theft-All Betw. 11/20 7:00:00 PM & 11/21 4:00:00 AM 21800 BLOCK WESTERN AVE. Stolen vehicle: ‘16 Toyota Rav4. Auto Theft-All Betw. 11/20 7:00:00 PM & 11/21 4:00:00 AM 21800 BLOCK WESTERN AVE. Stolen vehicle: ‘03 VW Passat. Auto Theft-All Betw. 11/20 7:00:00 PM & 11/21 4:00:00 AM 21800 BLOCK WESTERN AVE. Stolen vehicle: ‘07 Honda Civic. Theft Betw. 11/20 7:00:00 PM & 11/21 4:00:00 AM 21800 BLOCK WESTERN AVE. Suspect(s) defeats gate lock, enters grounds and takes numerous vehicles. Theft Betw. 11/20 6:30:00 PM & 11/20 7:00:00 PM 24400 BLOCK CRENSHAW BLVD. Suspect(s) takes unattended property from table/laptop. Auto Theft-All 11/20 6:17 PM 22500 BLOCK OCEAN AVE. Stolen vehicle: ‘98 Acura Integra. Burglary-Auto Betw. 11/20 6:00:00 PM & 11/20 7:00:00 PM 4200 BLOCK REDONDO BEACH BLVD. Suspect(s) enters vehicle by unknown means and takes property/wallet. Theft 11/20 4:12 PM 4200 BLOCK SEPULVEDA BLVD. Suspect(s) takes property from parking garage/bicycle Auto Theft-All Betw. 11/20 9:25:00 AM & 11/20 9:35:00 AM 19200 BLOCK PRAIRIE AVE. Stolen vehicle: ‘95 Ford P/U. Burglary-Auto 11/20 8:05 AM 23200 BLOCK WESTERN AVE. Suspect(s) takes property off of and from bed of parked vehicle/ tailgate, power tools. Monday, November 21 Battery-Simple Betw. 11/21 8:55:00 PM & 11/21 9:02:00 PM 3400 BLOCK CARSON ST. Suspect grabs victim by the elbow. Burglary-Auto Betw. 11/21 8:00:00 PM & 11/21 6:30:00 AM 23500 BLOCK ARLINGTON AVE. Suspect(s) takes property off of parked vehicle/tailgate. Auto Theft-All Betw. 11/21 8:00:00 PM & 11/22 8:01:59 AM 3800 BLOCK 181ST ST. Stolen vehicle: ‘88 Honda Civic. Theft Betw. 11/21 5:00:00 PM & 11/21 9:30:00 PM 3300 BLOCK LOMITA BLVD. Suspect(s) takes property off of parked vehicle/ license plate. Theft Betw. 11/21 1:30:00 PM & 11/21 3:30:00 PM 24000 BLOCK VISTA MONTANA Suspect(s) forces open locker and takes property/checks, cash. Burglary-Auto Betw. 11/21 1:15:00 PM & 11/21 2:16:58 PM 2300 BLOCK BORDER AVE. Suspect(s) smashes window for entry and takes property/pack of cigarettes. Auto Theft-All Betw. 11/21 11:45:00 AM & 11/21 11:48:34 AM 5000 BLOCK PACIFIC COAST HWY. Stolen vehicle: ‘11 Ford P/U. Auto Theft-All 11/21 11:08 AM 21800 BLOCK WESTERN AVE. Stolen vehicle: ‘05 Toyota Camry. •
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