Six members of a suspected professional burglary crew have been arrested by Irvine police after the group, including four teenagers, allegedly hit at least ten homes in Irvine over the past year, authorities said.
The burglaries took place all across the city, Irvine police Officer Ziggy Azarcon said, including Shady Canyon, Turtle Rock and the north end of the city by Orchard Hills.
All six people arrested were from Colombia, Azarcon said.
Many people keep their valuables, including cash and jewelry, in their primary bedroom, Azarcon said, and that was the focus of the crew accused of burglarizing the Irvine homes.
“The majority of the time, their operation would be, when they would enter the house, they would go straight to the master bedroom,” Azarcon said.
On June 24, a 32-year-old woman was arrested at an apartment in Huntington Beach, and Andres Zarate, 32, was arrested at an apartment in Bellflower. Three 17-year-old boys and one 17-year-old girl were also arrested in Los Angeles that day.
Zarate was charged with felony first-degree residential burglary and pleaded not guilty, according to court records. He was being held at the Theo Lacy Detention Facility, according to Orange County booking records.
No charging information was available for the woman, who was released, according to the jail log.
Information regarding the minors, whose names were not released, was also not available.
An investigation into the group is ongoing, Irvine police said in a statement.
Azarcon could not say whether those accused were suspected of being part of an international tourism burglary theft ring. In those cases, the criminals travel to other countries, often on tourist visas, to commit residential burglaries in affluent neighborhoods before returning to their home countries.