Arrests made in connection with Hollywood burglary ring
According to police, the highly organized teenage crew chose celebrities as their targets because they could their movements based on social media postings and travel schedules; victims of the burglaries include Rihanna, Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, actress and singer Christina Milian and Rams wide receiver Robert Woods.
Four people have been arrested in connection with a series of sophisticated burglaries that targeted the Los Angeles-area homes of celebrities, actors and athletes and Hollywood producers, police said Tuesday.
Some of the homes hit belong to Rihanna, Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, actress and singer Christina Milian and Rams wide receiver Robert Woods. Inside the home of one of the suspects, police found a list containing the names of around a dozen future targets, including LeBron James and actors Viola Davis and Matt Damon, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Rihanna was among the celebrities targeted in a series of Los Angeles-area home burglaries, police say. (Reuters)
Investigators suspect the crew could be responsible for as many as two dozen burglaries.
At a news conference, the Los Angeles Police Department displayed some of the alleged stolen items, including expensive handbags, watches and jewelry in hopes that victims could identify them.
Police also seized $50,000 in cash in one of the suspect's homes and a pile of Rolex watches, purses and jewels, said Lillian Carranza, commanding officer of the LAPD’s Commercial Crimes Division.
During the conference, Woods called the LAPD to say he saw his watches on display.
Tyress Williams and Jshawne Daniels, both 19, and Damaji Hall, 18, all believed to be gang members, were arrested fleeing Woods' home on Friday on suspcion of buglary, the Times said. Hall's mother, 34-year-old Ashle Hall, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of grand theft.
Police said they stopped an SUV in South Los Angeles on Friday for a reason unrelated to the burglaries and found a stolen handgun and stolen items that belonged to Woods.
After determing that one of the men was a suspect in the Woods burglary, police searched his vehicle and found stolen items taken from the homes of Puig, Rihanna and Milian.
The crew chose their victims based on social media postings and tour and travel schedules, Carranza said.
For example, Woods had his Woodlands Hills home burglarized Thursday while he was playing the Minnesota Vikings at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Police found a rear-sliding glass door smashed and security video shows three hooded suspects.
Carranza said the suspects called their burglaries “flocking” because “they flocked like birds to areas where the rich and famous were sited.”
To blend in the upscale neighborhoods where they committed their crimes, they would dress in button-down shirts and drive luxury cars when scouting an area, Carranza said.
They would then change into casual clothes that included hoodies, before committing their crimes, she said.
The burglaries would start with a bang on the door to make sure no one was home before breaking in through a door or window and raiding the master suite, Carranza said.
They would allegedly take cash, weapons, watches and other items in just several minutes, often before the alarm company could notify police.
In Puig’s home in Encino, surveillance video shows two suspects who allegedly caused $10,000 worth of damage to his home last week while trying to steal a safe on Sept. 18.
The outfielder was playing a game against the Colorado Rockies at the time of the heist. He has been the victim of four home burglaries, including another break-in last month, one on March 2017 and another during Game 7 of last year’s World Series.
On Tuesday, Williams pleaded not guilty to four felony counts of first-degree burglary related to Rihanna, Puig, Woods and French singer Tota Matthieu, City News Service reported.
The other three suspects were not immediately charged pending further investigation but remained in jail Tuesday.
In the past two years, there has been a rash of home burglaries in the Los Angeles area.
In 2017, thieves broke into Alanis Morissette’s mansion in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood and took around $2 million in jewelry and other items. In another incident, NBA basketball player Nick Young lost $500,000 in jewelry and other valuables in his Tarzana home.
Rappers Wiz Khalifa and Post Malone were also hit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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