Four people were arrested in Orange County for allegedly distracting shoppers and stealing their wallets.
Officers with the Irvine Police Department saw two men and two women rush out of HomeGoods, running to a car parked behind the store. According to the department , one of the men “began to manipulate the rear temporary license plate of the vehicle by folding it up so it was not readable.” This prompted officers to pull them over.
During a search, officers found a wallet that didn’t belong to anyone in the group. Officers tracked down the wallet’s original owner who said it had gone missing while she was shopping inside the HomeGoods. Police said they caught the people attempting to steal another shopper’s wallet on video. Irvine police said that these tactics are consistent with organized retail theft.
“So what they'll try to do is they usually travel in groups of two, not always, but most of the time there's two of them, one will stand in front of your cart or next to your cart and the other one will be behind you and they'll try to distract you either by, you know, getting very close to you, looking for items that are close to you,” said Karie Davies, an Irvine police sergeant.
She said thieves may even try to talk to you, anything that will get you to turn your back from your purse. Davies recommended that you don’t leave your purse or wallet in your shopping cart.
Irvine police identified the four suspects as Maria Beltran, 52, Thonson Yeamier Gomezbarreto, 32, Laidy Viviana Moraleon, 36, and William Alberto Melomontenegro, 38. Police said they were arrested and booked at Orange County Jail for conspiracy to commit burglary, grand theft, burglary, and possession of identity theft material.
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