IRVINE, Calif. — Detectives from the Irvine, California Police Department have announced the arrest of five individuals in relation to a home burglary that occurred on Easter Sunday. Authorities suspect that this group is linked to at least five other burglaries across Southern California.
Home security cameras caught the burglars in action. They were dressed as Amazon delivery workers.
Guolin Wang was still in shock on Friday after his home in the Great Park neighborhood was ransacked and burglarized on Easter Sunday.
Documents, credit cards and tens of thousands of dollars worth of property were all gone.
“I could never imagine things like this would happen to my family. I have no idea why they came to our house,” Wang said.
During a press conference Friday, Irvine police said the family may have been targeted by a transnational organized crime ring.
Surveillance video shows a door knock by a woman on Easter at 1:30 p.m. while the family was out for brunch. A white SUV sits parked out front.
Minutes later, sensors notified Wang that someone went into his home through a side window. That’s when Wang says he called police.
Surveillance footage shows a man dressed as an Amazon delivery worker approaching the property’s entrance, wearing a mask and gloves. Twenty minutes later, around 1:50 p.m., three individuals are seen hurriedly exiting the residence with a backpack and suitcase. They quickly jump into a waiting white SUV and leave the scene before law enforcement officers arrive.
Irvine Chief of Police Michael Kent said, after forming a containment perimeter, an officer pulled over a vehicle he called suspicious.
Kent, a spokesperson for the department, stated, “The driver purported to be a food delivery driver; however, following a comprehensive investigation, it became evident that his narrative was fabricated. The driver was apprehended for traffic violations, and crucial evidence was found inside the vehicle.”
Body cam video shows the arrests at a park in Fontana, California on Thursday after almost a month of police work. Police said four men and a woman from Colombia were arrested.
Irvine Police Detective Sgt. Adam Pettinger called them a “professional burglary group.”
After several weeks of surveillance, police recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in suspected stolen property after serving search warrants in two homes and a storage unit in Fontana and Colton, California.
“Cash, jewelry, designer handbags and four guns, three of which have already been determined to have been stolen,” Pettinger said.
Investigators said among the items found was property stolen from Wang’s home.
“I was thinking one of the selling points for this community in Irvine is the safety, right? It ranked as the safest city in the U.S., but I would never imagine these things could happen,” Wang said.
Detectives said they believe the same group of suspects is connected to another burglary caught on surveillance video in early April, and said the crew may be behind as many as five burglaries in Southern California.
The five suspects were booked into the O.C. Jail on various charges, including burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary and possession of narcotics.
Amazon said in a statement, “We’ve reached out to the Irvine Police Department and are working to support their investigation.”
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