Suspects in the cell phone burglaries, L to R, top row: Darrell Dent, Charles Mays, Jeremy Tillett. L to R, bottom row: Lina Houze, Keith Walton.
Five suspected Inglewood gang members have been arrested on suspicion of cutting holes into the roofs of cellphone stores from the San Fernando Valley to the South Bay, slithering inside and stealing thousands of dollars worth of phones, El Segundo police said Thursday.
The arrests Wednesday and Thursday cracked down on a crime wave that since November has victimized some 30 stores across Southern California, including T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and other companies, El Segundo police Lt. Jaime Bermudez said.
Victims found thieves had either cut holes in their roofs or broke in through roof vents and discovered large numbers of phones missings. A T-Mobile store at Sepulveda Boulevard and Grand Avenue was burglarized in February.
"It's been going on for a long, long time," Bermudez said. "Their mistake was committing one in El Segundo. "
Stolen phones were shipped out of the country, where they were sold and activated, Bermudez said.
"We think that's how they make a lot of their gang member money," Bermudez said.
El Segundo detectives, along with officers from the LA Impact task force and the Los Angeles Police Department's Commercial Crimes unit, conducted surveillance on the suspects. On Wednesday, SWAT teams from El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Gardena and Inglewood served search warrants at several residences in Inglewood and Los Angeles.
Arrested on suspicion of burglary were Keith Walton, 42; Darrell Dent, 35; Lina Houze, 26; Charles Mays, 47; and Jeremy Tillett, 24, all of Inglewood.
Burglaries occurred in communities including El Segundo, Marina del Rey, Commerce, Bellflower, Lancaster, Culver City, Inglewood, Northridge, Panorama City, Studio City, Thousand Oaks and Los Angeles.
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