Oscar Picks by Arnie and the ‘Mayor’

“I personally don’t think it’s a wonderful year for film; it’s actually a weak year,” said Arnie Wishnick, the Chamber of Commerce executive director who has been on hiatus as the Palisadian-Post’s longtime movie reviewer. “I completely disagree,” said Palisades Honorary Mayor Steve Guttenberg. “The films this year are very important because each is a social commentary and raises issues.” The movies nominated for best picture this year are “Capote,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Crash,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” and “Munich.” Wishnick even suggested that the Academy should skip this year’s nominated films and go back to 1951 when “An American in Paris” won for best picture over “A Place in the Sun,” or 1952 when “The Greatest Show on Earth” won over “High Noon” and “Moulin Rouge” and announce one of those three losing films as the best picture of 2005, giving them the due they deserved. Mayor Guttenberg, a veteran actor by trade, strongly disagreed with that thinking. “‘Brokeback Mountain’ will win hands down. The score was beautiful, the cinematography brilliant. The story was a metaphor for so many themes.” When pressed for which of the nominated films will win, Wishnick predicts “Brokeback Mountain.” “I didn’t care for this movie. I agree with Steve that it has beautiful scenery, beautiful music, but there wasn’t much of a story and no humor. It just didn’t interest me. Although I agree with the gay community in asking, ‘Why couldn’t it have a happy ending?'” “Of the five movies, I wouldn’t tell people to run and see any of them,” Wishnick continued. “I do like ‘Matchpoint,’ Woody Allen’s movie’it’s well-acted and a good thriller. I would’ve put that in the best movie category.” The two he would knock out are “Crash” and “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Guttenberg said he would keep all the nominated movies, although he agreed that “Matchpoint” was excellent. Asked what other movie should have been nominated, Wishnick said: “King Kong. It got shafted. Yes, the movie is a tad long, the scenes in the jungle should have been cut and Adrian Brody was miscast, but it was a good movie. Naomi Watts should be in the best actress category.” “King Kong got exactly what it deserved,” Guttenberg said. “It didn’t have the ‘meat”it was a commercial foray with no important theme.” “In ‘Good Night, and Good Luck,'” Wishnick said, “anyone under the age of 40 won’t know anything about the people in the movie’they don’t know who the people are and what their jobs are.” “I disagree,” said Guttenberg. “One doesn’t have to be a heroin addict or a hustler to understand ‘Midnight Cowboy.’ Movies are the greatest and most popular art forms. They can help make social changes.'” “David Strathairn’s portrayal of Murrow was terrific,” Wishnick said. “I agree with George Clooney when he said that Joe McCarthy should have been nominated in the best supporting actor category for his vicious portrayal of himself.” In the best actor category, Wishnick believes that Phillip Seymour Hoffman “has a lock because he WAS Capote.” “Not a chance,” said Guttenberg, who thinks the award will go to cowboy Heath Ledger. Wishnick does have a piece of advice for Hoffman: “Get rid of the three names! Nobody should go into business with three names. The only person who has had three names that anyone remembers is Mary Tyler Moore.” In the best actress category, our two local “experts” both think the award will go to Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the Line,” although Wishnick’s favorite was Felicity Huffman in “Transamerica.” He said he can’t understand why Dame Judi Dench is even nominated. “If you close your eyes and listen, it’s like Betti Davis doing a British accent.” Guttenberg shook his head sadly at Wishnick’s analysis. “Arnie wouldn’t know a Faberge Egg if I broke it over his head, scrambled it and served it to him for breakfast. Undeterred, Wishnick continued, “I think Joan Allen (“The Upside of Anger”) should have been in this category, but once again films which are released early in the year tend to be forgotten when it comes time for the Oscars. Naomi Watts should also be in this category.” In the supporting actor category, Wishnick said it’s a toss-up between George Clooney and Paul Giamatti (who won the SAG award), but his favorite was William Hurt in “A History of Violence.” “Although he was only on the screen for eight minutes he was terrific. He gave a new definition to creepy in the role of the evil brother.” Once again, Guttenberg goes for broke and backs Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance for the award. Supporting actress? Wishnick predicted it will go to Rachel Weisz in “The Constant Gardener.” If he had been able to vote, he would have selected Maria Bello from “Trans-america.” Her acting was superb, but if that wasn’t enough, in one scene she puts on a cheerleading costume to spice up the bedroom. “She looked good in that cheerleading outfit,” Wishnick said. “That alone deserves a nomination.” “I have to go with Michelle Williams,” Guttenberg said, once again banking on “Brokeback Mountain.” In the documentary feature category there are several strong contenders, including “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and “Murderball.” But both men think “It’s the year of the penguin.” And as Wishnick observed, “If the penguins show up they won’t even have to rent a tux.” If you look back over past Oscar winners for best original song, the list includes “Thanks for the Memories” (1938), “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (1939), “Wish Upon a Star” (1942), “White Christmas” (1943), “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” (1969), “The Way We Were” (1973) and “I Just Called to Say I Love You” (1984). This year, searching through the movies, the Academy could find only three original songs: “In the Deep” from “Crash,” “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from “Hustle and Flow,” and “Travelin’ Thru” from “Transamerica.” Although, the “pimp” song melody doesn’t leave your head for 48 hours, Arnie thinks “Travelin’ Thru” will win. The Mayor is betting on the melody you can’t get out of your head. Wishnick admitted he didn’t see all of the nominated foreign films, but that he’s heard good things about the German film “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days” and the Palestinian film “Paradise Now.” Guttenberg thinks the winner will be “Paradise Now.” What were some of the movies and performances overlooked by Academy voters? “Shopgirl,” said Wishnick. “It was a good movie with a good story; at the very least it should have been nominated for adopted screenplay. Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman should have been nominated in the best actress and best supporting actor category as well.” “‘Mrs. Henderson Presents,'” Guttenberg said. “It was really good and really well made. ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ was also overlooked; it should have been nominated for music and art direction, as well as for best director (Tim Burton).” Who do we listen to if we want to win the Oscar ballot contest (page 2) in this special supplement? “I’m extremely accurate on picks,” Mayor Guttenberg said modestly. And Wishnick? “I’ve never won, and never will because I stray and pick someone in a category because it’s my favorite,” he said. “You have to put yourself in the shoes of the voter and think how they’ll vote.”

By EVELYN BARGE Palisadian-Post Intern Growing up in Washington, D.C., during the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 70s, Palisadian Celia Bernstein said she developed an early understanding of community issues and social change. As a child, Bernstein would distribute homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the hungry protesters. “It was a strange time,” she said. “But it had a real impact on me, so I’ve been doing work in the community for a long time.” Bernstein started her career as a social worker before moving into the nonprofit field. She met her husband Brad Kesden in 1983 during a brief venture into the entertainment industry in New York. They met when Kesden interviewed for a television show she was working on at the time. Although he was not hired, the two became friends and started dating in 1985. “I’m convinced that the reason I was in the [television] industry was to meet Brad,” she said. “Otherwise, I don’t know if we would have ever met.” The couple moved to Los Angeles in 1988, the same year that the Shefa Fund was founded in Philadelphia as a national Jewish public foundation to encourage American Jews and Jewish institutions to be involved in socially responsible philanthropy. “It brings back the notion of ‘tikkun-olam,’ a Hebrew word for healing the world,” Bernstein said. “It takes this notion of value of ‘tikkun-olam’ in the Jewish tradition and brings it alive.” Bernstein has been the West Coast director of the Shefa Fund since 2001, when Shefa opened its first West Coast office in Los Angeles. (The organization has sinced merged with another progressive Jewish organization, the Jewish Fund for Justice.) Prior to joining Shefa, Bernstein was the associate director of development at the Liberty Hill Foundation and managed the foundation’s Donor Advised Program. “In 2001, I was charged four years ago with creating a local city fund,” Bernstein said. “Our model is to create these city funds where we can pool contributions from Jewish individuals and institutions in a particular city, and then re-lend them within that city.” Through the creation of a local, faith-based fund, the organization collects loans from Jewish individuals and institutions and then redistributes the money to low-income communities. These communities can then use the funds for affordable housing, small businesses and public facilities. Bernstein said she feels it is important for the Jewish community to examine the potential connection between their personal money and social justice and to utilize their charitable resources. “The Jewish community, over the years, has been a minority community, a poor community and an immigrant community,” she said. “In last few decades, it’s become a very wealthy community. Per capita, the Jewish community is wealthier than the mainstream. We believe that it’s very important for Jews not only to help other Jews, but also for the Jewish community to really engage in being involved in the larger community and making it a better place for all.” In additional to loans for low-income communities, the Shefa Fund also runs a grant-making program. Grants are given to socially responsible organizations both in and out of the Jewish community. In the past year and a half, the Los Angeles fund pooled about $1.3 million in loans and equity grants. “Through our work, we’ve been able to get 20 individuals and family foundations and businesses to lend to us,” Bernstein said. “Our goal is to really organize a huge sum of money from the Jewish community for broader community development.” In February, the Shefa Fund merged with the Jewish Fund for Justice, a larger New York City organization, and Bernstein said the merger will give her office a heightened presence in Los Angeles. The two groups are now called the Jewish Funds for Justice. Bernstein said she is encouraged in her work by both the events of the past and a hope for the future. On her desk at work in Santa Monica, she keeps a framed photograph of her grandmother, Celia Kravitz. The picture was taken as Kravitz sat behind a sewing machine in a sweatshop in Baltimore. “It was not that long ago,” Bernstein said. At home in the Asilomar bluffs neighborhood, she keeps another memento for inspiration. It is a note written by her daughter Lena for a school project at Marquez Elementary. The note reads: “My mom works at the Shefa Fund, and that means give money away, and it means to help people.” “This is why I’m doing what I’m doing,” Bernstein said referring to the note. “This is the penultimate reward.” (Editor’s note: Celia Bernstein and her husband Brad Kesden have both been immersed in the nonprofit world since the fall of 2003, when he founded Rock the Classroom. See Evelyn Barge’s article on Kesden on page 17.)

Elliott Zorensky, a local real estate developer who hopes to transform his wedge of property between Sunset and La Cruz into a major commercial enterprise, met with the Chamber of Commerce board and several members on February 3. He wanted to personally inform the town’s business organization about his ambitious plan, which he originally unveiled at a Community Council meeting last November, and he sought to court everyone’s favor. When he left, his plan was intact and he remained optimistic about his prospects, but he was reminded that he faces deep opposition from within the community as he and his partner, Randy Nonberg, press forward. “I have lived here since 1983 and I want this project to be a reflection of what the Palisades is all about,” Zorensky said as he showed his plans. “It will be user friendly, with plazas, landscaping, benches and lots of light’a place where shoppers and business employees can gather and enjoy the amenities.” At this point, the proposed plan by Zorensky and Nonberg (co-presidents of UDO Real Estate Ltd.) envisions three two-story retail and professional office buildings with three levels of underground parking on their property, which slopes down from Sunset between the Washington Mutual building and the Sav-on/post office buildings. Seven businesses totaling about 14,000 sq. ft. would be leveled and replaced by 53,000 sq. ft. of new buildings. In addition, the entrance/exit for the 250-space parking lot would be built at the current three-way intersection at Alma Real and La Cruz. Since La Cruz is 10 feet lower than Sunset, the first floor of parking would actually be at grade level and would not require a descent. Zorensky said he was still waiting to meet with L.A. City officials to work out a joint agreement to acquire the city’s outdoor metered parking lot next to Washington Mutual and, in exchange, provide an entire grade-level floor of public parking with meters (“creating a net increase of about 40 spaces,” he said). “It’s up to the city to come up with a feasible plan,” Zorensky said. “If we can’t work it out, I will redesign my project, and this would mean closing off the city lot’s entrance/exit at La Cruz [which is UDO’s property] and having a two-way entrance/exit on Sunset.” By acquiring the city’s parking lot, UDO Real Estate would be able to build a 26,690-sq. ft. building along Sunset, with retail at street level. A 17,936-sq. ft. building is planned for La Cruz, with the third building rising alongside Sav-on and the post office building. “I’ve broken the project into three buildings so that we maintain the scale of the existing business community,” Zorensky said. “On Sunset, our building will be lower than the Washington Mutual building, which was built under a former code and is 35 feet high. We will be under 30 feet.” Zorensky was asked, “What type of retail business do you foresee along Sunset and La Cruz?” “I envision providing space for the needs of the community,” he replied. “The tenants will dictate who leases this space. Personally, I love the boutiques and the shops in town’that’s why I love this community.” Zorensky said that all the existing tenants (including the Coldwell Banker offices) “will need to leave the complex. I have assured my tenants that I will assist them in relocating and I hope I get the successful ones back.” In addition to objecting to the proposed massing of three two-story buildings in the heart of the business district, critics of the UDO project predicted a traffic nightmare, especially along La Cruz and Alma Real as cars funnel into an already crowded bottleneck. “What we don’t know is how many new businesses will be in these buildings and how many customers will be coming there by car,” said Chamber president Sandy Eddy, who noted that the project will nearly quadruple the existing retail/commercial building space. “Big buildings are ruining the character of the Palisades, and you’re proposing the biggest one yet,” local attorney Ron Dean told Zorensky. “This will rip the heart and soul out of the community.” “Ron, I’m truly sorry,” Zorensky said calmly. “If there was anything I could do to make you happy, I would. But there are economics here.” “You said the right word,” Dean responded. “Economics.”

By Monday’s deadline, Mehr and Vickey Beglari had not vacated their house in Rustic Canyon, nor had they demolished their residence at the corner of Greentree and Brooktree Road, as they were originally ordered to do by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. The January 5 order to comply came after a five-year battle between the Beglaris and five of their neighbors, who took the case all the way to the California Court of Appeal, which affirmed the neighbors’ civil suit against both the homeowners and the City of L.A. However, Building and Safety rescinded the order on February 7, to the surprise of the plaintiffs, who are now considering further legal action. “The city appears to be making exactly the same mistake it made before in dealing with the Beglaris,” said attorney John Rosenfeld. “We are confident this new action will not stand up in court.” The Beglaris had obtained a building permit in January 2001 to build a 6,550-sq.-ft., two-story addition to their existing 2,000-sq.-ft. ranch-style house at 909 Greentree Rd. Their problem began in April of that year when they started excavating the front of their 10,000-sq.-ft. lot to build an underground garage. The neighbors thought the Beglaris were digging too close to the curb and suspected that the setback was not in accordance with the municipal code. In October 2002, Associate Zoning Administrator Lourdes Green concluded that not only did the setback violate code but that Building and Safety had erred in calculating the “prevailing” front-yard setback for the Beglari house’which was measured from the Beglaris’ next-door neighbor’s detached garage to the curb, instead of from the neighbor’s house to the curb, as required by law. Even though the Beglari residence was found to be 14 feet closer to the street (Greentree) than permitted by the zoning code, the City Planning Commission overruled Green in February 2003. The legal wrangling on both sides finally ended last spring, with the Court of Appeal ordering Building and Safety to revoke all permits issued to the Beglaris, as well as their 2002 certificate of occupancy. The neighbors were elated until they discovered earlier this month that Building and Safety had not only rescinded the order but reinstated the Beglaris’ building permits “to reflect the revised front-yard prevailing setback based on the current circumstances.” Even more startling was the revelation that the “revised” setback that allowed for the reinstatement had nothing to do with the Beglaris’ residence at 909 Greentree’the subject of the protracted dispute’but from a property the couple owns at 921 Greentree, two doors down the street. There, the couple built a five-foot addition to the front of the three-bedroom, two-bath ranch-style house which they purchased in 2004. The addition’which is attached to the chimney and consists of a sloped composite roof supported by two wood pillars (four-by-fours)’not only serves the purpose of decreasing the house’s setback from the street, but in doing so alters the “prevailing” setback for the entire block’which consists of four residences. According to Section 12.07 of the zoning code, “prevailing” setbacks are calculated by taking the property the shortest distance from the street (which, in this case, is an attached carport at 925 Greentree that is 9’11” from the curb), adding the setbacks of any properties within 10 feet, then averaging them out. However, since there is only one property within 10 feet of 925, only the setback for 921 (which is 17’5″, as measured from the edge of the Beglaris’ new addition to the curb) was used in calculating the new “prevailing” setback, which Building and Safety concluded to be 13’3″‘approximately six inches less than the once unacceptable setback of 13’9″ for 909 Greentree, instantly rendering it compliant. “The addition at 921 Greentree is built to code and even though it extends out five feet beyond the house, there is still enough distance between the addition and the curb to comply with the required front-yard setback for this property,” Building and Safety spokesman Bob Steinbach told the Palisadian-Post on Tuesday. Section 12.03 of the zoning code allows for any structure that has a roof and is supported by columns or walls to be used as an enclosure for animals or personal property. The code further states that because the addition is a legal extension of the house, the setback is no longer measured from the chimney to the curb, but from the new addition to the curb. What surprised plaintiff Rosenfeld about the latest Building and Safety ruling is “how the city now appears to have inappropriately altered one setback to try and justify what is their obvious blunder on another. Both measurements are flawed, as far as we’re concerned. That’s what caused the problem in the first place. What if everyone wanted to put their house closer to the street, like the Beglaris? What happens to setbacks then?” (Editor’s note: Contacted on Tuesday evening, Vickey Beglari said she had no comment on the Building and Safety ruling, and Mehr Beglari did not return our call by the time we went to press Wednesday.)

Gavin MacLeod might be known as the Captain, but in June he’ll have a new hat to wear: Honorary Mayor of Pacific Palisades. He follows Steve Guttenberg, who will have served for four years. “Steve’s going to give me some pointers,” said MacLeod, who’s famous for his roles as Captain Merrill Stubing on “The Love Boat” and news writer Murray Slaughter on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Both shows were Saturday-night hits from 1970 to 1986. In an interview with the Palisadian-Post at Mogan’s Caf’ on Monday, he joked about the shoes he has to fill. “I’m going to follow this young kid with all this hair.” MacLeod, who turns 75 next week, said he agreed to be mayor after he was assured that his frequent business trips would not be a conflict. He’s been a spokesman for Princess Cruises since 1986, and often travels on various cruise ships to participate in naming ceremonies and other events. He plans to keep in touch with the community by letter-writing to the Post when he’s out of town, a tradition started by former Honorary Mayor Jerry Lewis (1953) and continued today with Guttenberg’s “Gute News.” When Arnie Wishnick, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, told MacLeod last year to think about being mayor, MacLeod consulted his wife, Patti. “She said, ‘I think it would be great.’ It is a great honor. How could I turn something like that down?” He’s already given Patti the title “Mayoress” since “people are probably going to see as much of her as they are of me because we’re always together.” The couple was divorced for three years in the early 1980s before remarrying, and celebrated their 34th anniversary this week. They have a combined seven children and nine grandchildren, and MacLeod has already warned Wishnick that they’re going to have “a big clan” for the Palisades Fourth of July festivities. He rode in the July 2004 parade as a special guest with Patti and their grandson, Peter. “I know Steve used to walk in front [of the car], but he’s a little younger than I am,” said MacLeod, who grew up in Pleasantville, New York, and has retained his strong New York accent. His desire to serve as honorary mayor was actually inspired by longtime friend Ted Knight, who died in 1986. Knight was mayor of the Palisades from 1981 to 1983. The two met in 1957 when they both came to Los Angeles, where MacLeod said they “bought $25,000 houses at the same time’he was in Woodland Hills and I was in Granada Hills.” They shared the same agent, became close friends and were co-stars on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” They both ended up Palisades residents in later years. “He was like my older brother,” MacLeod said. “He was one of the best dramatic actors I’ve ever seen in my life. Every Saturday night, he’d call me after the show and we’d talk about it.” When Knight became sick with cancer, MacLeod visited him in his Palisades home before heading to Cape Cod to work on a production of “Never Too Late.” It was during that last visit that he and Patti, who had become born-again Christians, recited a prayer with Ted and his wife, Dorothy. Even now, tears swell in MacLeod’s eyes when he recalls his friend’s death. “Dorothy contacted me and asked me to do the eulogy,” MacLeod said. “It was like I was writing a telegram or a last letter to him. I reviewed many of the experiences we had had together when we were younger and growing up.” He remembers that years later, “Dottie said, ‘Gavin, you know, you’ve got the right personality to be the mayor.’ I said, ‘The mayor of what?’ She said, ‘Pacific Palisades.’ I said, ‘Oh, come on, I don’t even live here.'” Dorothy passed away in 2005. The MacLeods moved back to California from Cape Cod in 2001 and settled in the Palisades to be closer to their family, who live in California and Hawaii. Their son Tommy Steele, his wife Fiona and their children Jane and Annie are Palisades residents. “We love everything about it here,” MacLeod said. “The air is so great. We love to go and park at Castellammare and look at the ocean.” They also enjoy eating at restaurants in town and supporting the local shops. “I like to be with Patti, no matter what we do,” he said. “She likes Gelson’s and I like Ralphs. We shop at Gelson’s most of the time but I love the people who wait on you at Ralphs.” MacLeod has worked with a handful of Palisadians, including Billy Crystal, who played “the kissing bandit” on an episode of “The Love Boat,” and former Honorary Mayor Nanette Fabray (1967). Fabray also appeared on “The Love Boat” as well as “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” and she and MacLeod played husband and wife in a production of “No, No, Nanette” in Long Beach. “There was one number that she did,” he remembered, “where she started tapping and that was just chilling’to see her tap. All of the other dancers filled in behind her; the whole stage was full and there she was in the center. That was the highlight of the show. “I worked with a lot of people on stage, but she was the best,” MacLeod continued. “Nanette is an icon and a legend. They don’t make ’em like that anymore. She could do anything.” MacLeod does not know a lot of people in the Palisades and said that most people in town don’t recognize him as an actor. “It’s kind of refreshing,” he said, admitting that he’s led a quiet, low-profile life here. “Being anonymous is sort of my middle name.” But he’s looking forward to getting to know the community and is interested in some of the more pressing issues, such as a location for a dog park, even though he does not have a solution to offer. “The bottom line is, you want everybody to like you, and that means you can’t make any decisions,” he said, laughing. The MacLeods used to have five dogs but found other homes for all of them because of the couple’s frequent travels. In June, before Gavin becomes Honorary Mayor, he plans to attend his 54th Ithaca College reunion and a naming ceremony for a new Princess ship, both in New York. He will fly back to the Palisades just in time for the installation dinner on June 15. If attendees at the dinner notice some extra cameras that evening, it might be the crew of Windmill Entertainment, who MacLeod said are interested in filming the installation for a “Living in TV Land” program on him. The show follows classic TV stars in their daily lives. In the past they’ve featured Dick Van Patten and William Shatner. In recent months, Van Patten, Mary Tyler Moore and MacLeod appeared together in an episode of “That ’70s Show” before it went off the air. MacLeod also has made guest appearances on “King of Queens,” and appeared in the film “Checking Out” (2005) with Peter Falk. His latest work is an improvisational film called “The Cook Off,” in which he plays himself as a celebrity judge. Of the hundreds of characters he’s played, he said his favorite is “whoever I’m playing at the moment.” Then he added, “If I ever had anything to do with making a mark on this business, I’m so glad it was with ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ and ‘The Love Boat.’ ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ has been called one of the greatest half-hours in the history of television and ‘The Love Boat’ created an industry.” He jokes that, in his new role as Honorary Mayor, he will have to hang another sign on the front of his Highlands home, near the one that says “Captain’s Paradise.” The new sign he envisions would be “Mayor’s Retreat.”

On Monday, just before 6 p.m. on the 700 block of Hartzell, a Pacific Palisades resident was robbed by suspects later connected to four other robberies in an area ranging from Santa Monica to West Los Angeles. According to LAPD Senior Lead Officer Chris Ragsdale, the victim was loading items into his car, which was parked on the street, when a black vehicle, possibly a Nissan, approached him. There were four suspects in the car, described as Hispanic males, 20-25 years of age, wearing white t-shirts and black pants, and armed with a blue steel revolver. The two suspects sitting in the right side of the car got out, approached the resident, drew the handgun and demanded money as well as the victim’s cell phone. The victim complied, and the suspects fled with the victim’s wallet, its contents and the cell phone. The same suspects, who Ragsdale called “serial robbers,” had committed two robberies about an hour earlier near the Westside Pavilion’one at 5 p.m on Westwood Boulevard and another on Pico Boulevard near Veteran. “We were focusing around there for the vehicle,” Ragsdale said. After leaving the Palisades, the suspects committed two other robberies that evening, one of them in Santa Monica. “These guys were quite active,” Ragsdale said. He added that the police could not be sure if the crimes were part of a gang initiation or if the suspects were robbing for sport. The crimes are currently under investigation.