Knock-Knock Crew Victim Speaks Out

By DAYNA DRUM | Reporter

As the resident of a home in the El Medio neighborhood was rushing out to an appointment he knew the bolt on his backdoor didn’t fully engage behind him, but he wasn’t going to be gone for long so he wasn’t worried.

He still wasn’t concerned when his wife called him in the early afternoon on Monday, June 8, 2015 to inform him their security company had called to alert her that their alarm had been set off.

He told her not to worry about calling the police because he would be home in just a few minutes. As he rounded the corner onto their small cul-de-sac street, he was confronted with a gathering of police vehicles and a group of law enforcement officers that he likens to characters out of “Sons of Anarchy.” Long hair and arms full of tattoos—these guys were the “real deal.”

They asked him if he had given anyone permission to enter the home, which he had not, and warned him that the state of the home’s interior may be upsetting. Items were strewn around the upstairs, drawers were emptied and his wife’s jewelry was gone—the couple had fallen victim to the sophisticated and daring “knock-knock” crew, made up of Chivetta Overstreet, Donte Caldwell, Elanee Jarrett and Evarald Fisher.

“It’s weird when someone comes into your house, it’s an uncomfortable feeling,” the victim explained to the Palisadian-Post, over a year after the crime took place.

Two members of the crew jumped the back gate and rattled the unsecured backdoor and entered the home. But even if the   door had been correctly locked, law enforcement told the homeowner, the burglars would have just broken the glass.

“So we saved ourselves a window,” the victim joked.

The longtime Palisadian was almost immediately able to make light of the situation because of the down-to-earth nature of the responding officers. Before he even entered the house, he cracked a few jokes with the cops and knew what to expect.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Burglary-Robbery Task Force had been watching the crew the entire time and apprehended the suspects shortly after they drove away with a pillowcase full of jewelry, estimated to be worth about $10,000.

The burglary task force weren’t the only ones witnessing the alleged crime take place, the homeowners’ hound dog was inside the entire time. Luckily, the four-legged member of the family did not receive the same careless treatment that the couple’s possessions did.

“They could’ve shot my dog, then I would’ve been upset,” he said, adding, “Jewelry can be replaced, but not my dog.”

The jewelry was returned within an hour after the suspects were arrested, except an heirloom ring that was tucked away in one the crewmember’s pockets discovered in booking.

Because so many homes have been robbed in the Palisades, the residents find it difficult to make too big of a deal about what they endured. They are both able to maintain a light-hearted spirit, and at the very least, assume the probability of a similar situation occurring on their street again very unlikely. They have moved on with little impact to their daily routines, except for being slightly more cautious. The couple now keeps their valuables in a safe and makes sure they always set their house alarm, even when they are only leaving the house for just a few minutes.