Arrest of Lock/Pick Burglar in West Los Angeles

Los Angeles:  LAPD catches burglar who has extensive criminal history in New York, Florida and California.

On April 10, 2008, a 64-year-old, male Caucasian identified as David Niera entered a condominium complex in West Los Angeles by using a credit card to slip the perimeter grounds gate lock.  Once inside the complex Niera would enter a residence by picking/slipping the front door lock and remove jewelry from the victim’s home. 

Niera’s image was captured by the condominium complex’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance system.  A community alert was disseminated which included the CCTV image of Niera, whose identity at that time was unknown. 

On April 23, 2008, Niera returned to the same building and again attempted to force entry. An occupant recognized Niera from the CCTV video and summoned the police. West Los Angeles patrol officers took Niera into custody outside of the complex.

Niera was ultimately identified by Live Scan pursuant to his arrest and booking for burglary. It was believed that Niera was responsible for a large number of similar lock pick/slipped lock residential burglaries that occurred in the West Los Angeles area over the last year.  Through the detective’s investigation, it was also discovered that Niera had an extensive criminal history in
New York, Florida as well as California. 

The District Attorney’s Office has filed a felony burglary complaint for the burglary described above.  David Niera remains in custody on $1,000,000 bail and his preliminary hearing is set for May 9, 2008.

In addition, since the arrest of David Niera, lock pick/slipped lock residential burglaries have virtually ceased in West Los Angeles. 

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact West Los Angeles Detective Gonzales at
310-444-1564, or LAPD Media Relations Section at 213-485-3586.