Burglary response raises safety concerns among USC students

The response of safety officials to a burglary in the 700 block of W 30th Street last week has raised concerns among residents with students feeling unsupported by law enforcement during multiple encounters with a home intruder.

“No officer came to talk to us, but they did come to our bathroom,” said Melina Quiles, a fourth year environmental studies major whose apartment was broken into. “Our friend called 911, who were unavailable. Even when eventually 50 police units arrived, no one asked us what had happened.”

The incident started when Quiles returned to her apartment around 4 p.m, only to encounter a person she didn’t recognize yelling to gain entry into the complex. Shortly thereafter, Quiles said the stranger jumped the fence and smashed a window with a pot to gain entry to the apartment. After a brief confrontation with the residents, the stranger took a water bottle and a clock before leaving. That’s when they called both DPS and police.

According to DPS, the alleged burglar returned to the apartment less than two hours later. By then, Quiles’ roommate Melissa Ayala was also home and in the kitchen with Quiles when the intruder entered the apartment a second time and lingered by the front door, prompting the students to begin filming.

“We were sitting on the couch, right by the door entrance,” Ayala said. “I was eating my food, then all of a sudden I heard someone barge in. I looked up and I felt my heart kind of sink a little bit.”

The intruder spoke to the students like they were a familiar friend, asking them for food. When asked to leave, they grabbing dry erase markers and other random items in reach before leaving once again.

Quiles and her roommates were disheartened by what they claimed was a lackluster response by DPS and the LAPD.

“The situation […] was handled by the LAPD,” DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle said. “They made all the decisions.”

However, the LAPD said they turned control over to DPS.

“That day, according to our [dispatch], USC handled it,” an LAPD spokesperson said.

LAPD officers arrived on the scene after the second break-in, when the students called 911 to report the repeat burglary. By then, the person had already been seen down the street behind a parking garage where they entered an abandoned house.

Thirty minutes later, smoke was seen coming from the empty home.

A stand-off would follow after LAPD’s mental health unit arrived while other officers evacuated nearby apartments. Hours later, just before midnight, the LAPD made the decision not to arrest the person.

Quiles and Ayala said they watched the entire situation unfold 300-feet in front of their apartment on a Citizen livestream. That’s how they knew both DPS and LAPD left the person who had already broken into their home twice alone, leaving the pair in fear the intruder would try a third time since they were only a short walk away.

“We fully were convinced that they’re gonna get this guy,” Quiles said. “Then the police literally leave on the livestream, we were genuinely so confused. ‘This actually cannot be real. There’s no way that they all just left.’”

A miscommunication between DPS and LAPD could have contributed to the conflicting responses in the aftermath of the incident, and the lack of coordination dealing with the victims.

“The suspect was arrested at the location the next morning by LAPD officers,” Carlisle said. “DPS received the original call the day before, but turned the investigation over to the LAPD.

“We supported LAPD by helping set up a perimeter around the building to keep people away from the scene and directing traffic,” he continued. “Whatever support LAPD requested.”

Quiles whatever happened between the two agencies, they themselves didn’t get assistance from either LAPD and DPS.

“I ended up calling LAPD again and the dispatch person said, ‘So when this guy came back to your house, you didn’t call 911 because we have no record,’” Quiles said, despite having made the call that got LAPD to respond the day before. “Turns out it was because of a miscommunication.”

Despite the confusion, Carlisle said the students did the right thing by not confronting the intruder and reporting the incident to both DPS and the police.