Early 2017 has seen a spike in the residential burglaries of celebrity homes in and around the Los Angeles area. Dubbed “knock-knock” burglaries, these, and other, home invasions all share some similar traits. A “knock-knock” burglary is pretty simple: thieves will walk up to the door and knock, if nobody appears to be home, they will enter the house and steal what they can. The recent rise in residential burglaries leads LAPD to form task force designed to investigate and apprehend the suspects behind the crimes.
Recently, several celebrities have found themselves the victims of “knock-knock” burglars and suffered some pretty significant losses. Kendall Jenner’s home was broken into this week and $200,000 worth of jewelry was reported stolen. On February 9th, singer Alanis Morisette reported a break in and that $2 million dollars in jewelry and other property was reported stolen. At some point between November 24 and January 24, the mansion of Nicki Minaj was broken into, torn apart inside, and had $175,000 worth of jewelry stolen.
These aren’t the only celebrities who have been victimized recently by burglars. Nick Young of the Los Angeles Lakers, Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and former Laker Derek Fisher all reported break-ins and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of missing property was reported.
Investigators believe that celebrities’ high profile status is giving burglars information on when to break in. With celebrities’ lives so public, it isn’t difficult to follow social media and find out when they won’t be home. Singers are particularly easy to break into because their tour schedules are made public and often stretch for weeks or even months at a time.
Investigators note that it was only after the task force was set up that celebrities began to report robberies. The majority of “knock-knock” burglary victims have been non-celebrities. To help keep yourself safe from “knock-knock” burglars, law enforcement urges people not to advertise their whereabouts on social media, and to make sure to have all mail and newspapers picked up from the front of your home by a neighbor.
