Someone else must watch Venice Beach’s back as crime fighter Boston Dawna hangs up her cuffs

Boston Dawna, the Batman of Venice Beach, retires

LOS ANGELES — Hipsters, hustlers, celebrities, thieves, dope peddlers and just about everyone else in gritty, quirky Venice Beach knows Boston Dawna.

For nearly 40 years, the one-woman crime fighter has cruised the gritty, quirky beachfront community, keeping watch on its daily carnival of tourists, pitchmen and artists.

She’ll stop in a heartbeat, slap a pair of handcuffs on you, pull a cell phone out of her bra and call the police.

But Venice has gotten to be too much, even for Dawna. She’s packing her bags and heading home to Boston, the city that gave Donna Chaet her nickname and the nasally accent with which she pronounce it “Dawna.”

She says she’s grown fed up with the area’s traffic, crowds and crime.