Pacific Palisades residents build blockade amid spate of burglaries

Pacific Palisades residents have set up a blockade at night to try to stop thugs from breaking into their homes as they are steadily rebuilt.The wealthy coastal enclave is still largely dotted with empty lots and construction projects more than a year after the fires destroyed thousands of houses, creating easy targets for thieves.“This is the people and the neighbors coming together to solve the problem,” Palisades resident Morgan Goldberg said in an Instagram video after several properties under construction were targeted.Goldberg, who is rebuilding after losing her own home in the inferno, said residents have organized their own security efforts as they wait for more police protection.“The neighbors have put together a pretty active neighborhood watch,” Goldberg told KTLA.“In some instances, they create a blockade or just some kind of presence to thwart any criminal activity coming down the street.”LAPD recorded eight burglaries in the Palisades during June, with construction sites among the targets.Thieves allegedly made off with about $13,500 in tools after breaking a window at one home under renovation.At another property, a storage container was broken into after its lock was cut, resulting in roughly $10,000 worth of equipment being stolen.A separate construction site lost another $6,450 in equipment after a gate and storage container were reportedly breached.Police told residents in July that the area was seeing roughly four to five reported crimes per week — an improvement from the approximately eight weekly incidents reported several months earlier.Still, the crime has become an additional headache for homeowners already dealing with the financial and emotional toll of rebuilding.Goldberg described the post-fire neighborhood as particularly vulnerable at night because so many properties remain vacant or under construction.“It’s very dark, it’s unpopulated, and full of construction lots with nothing but a chain link fence protecting it...