— Photo by Mary Renter ©
Spyglass Hill residents organized an appreciation luncheon for the Newport Beach Police Department “as a thank you for fighting crime” in their neighborhood and the city, locals reported in an email last week.
About 60 officers attended the event, held at NBPD headquarters on Nov. 20.
“The Spyglass Hill community is one of the best we have and should be applauded for taking care of those who take care of us all,” Mayor Pro Tem Will O’Neill, who attended the luncheon, wrote in an email this week.
The event was organized by Neighborhood Watch coordinator Therese Loutherback, and sponsored by residents Steve and Karen Silverstein of the Stanley W. Ekstrom Foundation.
Others in attendance included NBPD Chief Jon Lewis, Deputy Chiefs Jay Short and Dennis Birch, NBPD Crime Prevention Specialist Sara Verschueren, City Councilman Kevin Muldoon, and many police officers. Spyglass residents joined the officers for a casual lunch catered by Sundried Tomato Co.
In an email last week, Loutherback recalled a night in September when two Spyglass homes were burglarized.
Newport Beach police were patrolling the neighborhood around 3:30 a.m. when officers noticed a car leaving Spyglass with the lights out. The driver refused to stop, so NBPD followed the suspects along the 91 freeway toward Los Angeles.
Officers eventually caught up with the suspects and arrested four people in the vehicle and retrieved more than $30,000 worth of stolen goods.
“We commend Commander Keith Krallman and his officers in area 4 for their diligent pursuit of the burglars,” Loutherback wrote in an email last week.
The LA Sheriff’s Department also assisted in the pursuit.
NBPD Press Information Officer Heather Rangel confirmed the incident, but didn’t have additional details at the time of print.
— Photo by Mary Renter ©
