Seven people have been charged in connection with a spate of home burglaries in the San Fernando Valley by “robust, picky and predatory thieves,” authorities said.
The suspects are accused of participating in at least 20 home burglaries, making off with wallets, purses, watches, jewelry and more, according to the LA County district attorney’s office.
“These suspects are accused of wandering around the neighbourhoods, breaking into their homes and stealing from families who are left shaken and traumatized,” said Dist. He said. Nathan Hochman in a statement.
The police said that stolen goods and burglary tools were collected in this operation which led to the arrest of many people.
(Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office)
While organized burglars targeting residential homes have been a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, there was an uptick in incidents in and around the San Fernando Valley last month, when thieves hit nine homes in just one week. In response, LA Mayor Karen Bass ordered the Los Angeles Police Department to increase patrols along Ventura Boulevard, a popular area for burglaries.
LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said the newly arrested suspects did extensive research on properties and tried to cover up their crimes using hot phones and cars rented under false ownership.
Luna, at a news conference Wednesday, noted that organized burglars are “increasingly targeting affluent areas and tend to choose homes near golf courses, parks and hiking trails and open spaces that provide easy access and escape routes.”
Last month, LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell said that many of these residential burglars were tied to theft rings from South America and gangs based in South LA. He said that workers use similar tools such as hidden cameras to determine when residents leave their homes, Wi-Fi jammers to interfere with home security systems and ladders to enter homes through second floor windows.
The LAPD, the LA County Sheriff’s Department and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department worked together to apprehend the seven suspected burglars.
Byron Gonzálo Sáez Sotomayor is accused of burglarizing or attempting to burglarize 18 homes in the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles, often targeting multiple residences in one night, prosecutors said. He was arrested while fleeing a burglary in the Beverlywood area on May 4.
The 27-year-old suspect pleaded not guilty to 15 counts of residential burglary, three counts of attempted burglary and one count of stealing a large firearm. He is being held in lieu of $1.4-million bail and faces up to 26 years in state prison if convicted.
Christopher Sanchez, 26, Owen Rivera-Chacon, 24, and Edison Fabian Boyaca, 27, were arrested May 1 during a sting operation on burglary suspects in Santa Clarita, prosecutors said. Both were charged with one count of burglary of a habitation, while Rivera-Chacon faces a misdemeanor count of burglary of a habitation.
Jewelry was collected as evidence in the arrest of seven burglaries in the San Fernando Valley.
(Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office)
All have pleaded not guilty. If convicted, Sanchez and Boyaca each face up to six years in state prison, while Rivera-Chacon faces up to 17 years in state prison.
The final three suspects – accused Wilmar Santiago Castelblanco-Robles, 20, Alan Rolando Rodriguez-Pulido, 34, and Cristian Rios-Cuadros, 24, – were arrested on April 26 when neighbors saw Rios-Cuadros and Castelblanco-Robles break into police, the Burbank prosecutor said. The pair fled on foot, police said, and were caught by police, while Rodriguez-Pulido was arrested nearby while driving the alleged getaway car.
Each is charged with burglary and faces up to six years in prison if convicted. Castelblanco-Robles and Rios-Cuadros pleaded not guilty, while Rodriguez-Pulido is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on June 16.
“Home burglaries strike at the heart of people’s sense of safety, and we respond with precision, urgency, and cooperation,” McDonnell said in a statement Wednesday. “The LAPD will continue to pursue burglaries until our neighborhoods are secured.”
Staff writers Rong-Gong Lin II and Salvador Hernandez contributed to this report.
