Police Investigate Bizarre New Year’s Home Invasion

By GABRIELLA AYRES | Reporter

In California, there are state laws protecting consumers who unwittingly buy stolen property—anyone purchasing off of Ebay or Craigslist is subject to such affiliations—but what happens when that “property” is your home? Two Palisadians would like to know.

Nestled cliffside with spectacular ocean views, the modern, beachfront property in Lower Las Casas is a vacationer’s dream. The homeowner, Dr. Peter Filsinger, was working overnight when his fiancé Krista misplaced her set of keys.

Krista Ööpik, who drove home to the 200 block of Pintoresca residence on Saturday, Dec. 31, parked her car inside the garage at 3 p.m.— and, like so many times before, left her keys inside her vehicle.

When it was time to leave for the evening’s festivities, Ööpik and her sister, Kara, headed back into the garage only to find that the keys were no longer in their resting place.

After searching high and low, the Ööpik sisters ordered an Uber to drive them to their downtown hotel.

The night continued on without much abnormality—laughing, dancing and midnight toasts made way for a seemingly common entrance into the New Year.

It wasn’t until late the following morning—hours after celebratory shenanigans should have been put to bed— that things took a turn for the bizarre.

After a fun night out, Krista and Kara returned home to the Palisades at approximately 11:50 a.m. on Jan. 1. Once settled inside, they noticed that the sliding glass door had been left wide open. Having known of the many break-ins that have occurred in the area lately, the sisters quickly retreated and stood at the bottom of the driveway.

As Krista and Kara stood outside, a 21- to 25 year-old-man donning skinny pink pants and a fitted T-shirt returned to the seaside residence.

After handing both the keys and the garage door opener over to the women, the suspect went on to say that he had bought them for cash from someone at W Hollywood Nightclub, claiming he was told that they were for an Airbnb rental.

The police were called and the suspect was taken into custody.

After returning home from the hospital, Filsinger reviewed his video surveillance feed and conducted a full walk-through. The security footage showed the suspect arriving on scene at 8:01 a.m. After struggling to get into the residence, the suspect left the property for 30 minutes before returning with the garage door opener.

The suspect, who drove a rental car, spent approximately two hours in the home before exiting towards the beach.

Filsinger told the Palisadian-Post that nothing was taken from his home, but that his files had been rummaged through.

In fact, the only thing out of place was a puppy obedience graduation certificate that was removed from the homeowner’s filing cabinet and placed under the pillow of his bed.

“It was just unusual,” Filsinger said. “He spent nearly two hours going through my files, but there isn’t anything special in my house or in my file cabinets. I’m just a typical working doctor.”

Filsinger went on to say that he believed the suspect had been under the influence of illegal substances.

The LAPD is currently working to find the alleged suspect responsible for selling Ööpik’s keys, but so far they haven’t found any information proving that such a person even existed.

Until then, “the guy,” as Filsinger called him, will remain in police custody.