Theft ring targeting Apple store shoppers in SoCal
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Detectives have linked three car burglaries in Thousand Oaks to an alleged theft ring that targets people leaving Apple computer stores, authorities said Monday.
Authorities around Southern California suspect the crime ring may be responsible for about 100 thefts in which criminals followed customers out of Apple stores, then broke into the cars where the customers left their expensive purchases, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Law enforcement agencies in Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties are sharing information about the thefts of computers and printers.
About 10 thefts that fit the alleged crime ring's pattern were reported in Thousand Oaks in recent months, said Detective Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department Thousand Oaks station.
Those crimes included two July 10 thefts at The Oaks mall, 350 W. Hillcrest Drive. In both of those incidents, customers bought expensive items at the Apple store at the mall, drove to a nearby Best Buy, left their purchases inside and returned to find them gone, sheriff's officials said at the time. One of the items reported stolen was a $2,300 laptop.
Two of the three suspected members of the theft ring arrested in Mission Viejo late last month were linked to incidents in Thousand Oaks on July 1, July 10 and July 20, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
The three suspects -- Los Angeles residents Garzon Omar David Diaz, 26; Louis Carlos Lopez, 31; and John Marlon Rodriguez, 23 -- were arrested in Mission Viejo Dec. 29 during a sting that followed a series of thefts at a Mission Viejo mall, Amormino said. Lopez and Rodriguez were named in connection with the Thousand Oaks incidents, according to the district attorney's complaint.
Diaz, Lopez and Rodriguez were charged with a total of 28 counts, including second-degree burglary, grand theft, vehicle tampering and possession of burglary tools, according to the complaint. All three suspects have pleaded not guilty, said Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the district attorney.
At least one similar burglary was reported in Orange County since the suspects' arrest, and authorities believe there may be other criminals involved, Amormino said.
"It's probably a part of a larger ring," he said, adding that police in Florida contacted him about similar crime. "The method of operation is similar and not coincidental."
