Seven persons were accused by Los Angeles prosecutors this week in connection with two complex jewelry heists that involved signal jammers and resulted in the alleged thieves taking more than $1 million worth of merchandise, according to officials.
According to a news release from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, the group, which Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman characterized as a South American crime ring, allegedly cut a hole in the roof of Bidrussian Jewelry in Glendale on May 26 and then stole over $1 million worth of merchandise.
Officers from five separate police departments, lead by the Glendale Police Department, stopped the same group from committing a similar break-in at Rodeo Jewelers in La Verne last week, according to authorities.
Prosecutors claimed that the accused in the La Verne incident broke electrical lines and used signal jammers to cut off local Internet and emergency services.
No matter how meticulously planned your crimes may be, you will be found, caught, and punished to the fullest extent of the law, Hochman warned in a message to anyone engaged in organized crime that targets businesses in Los Angeles County. In addition to endangering livelihoods and creating terror in communities, these careless crimes also endanger millions of lives by attempting to evade detection by turning off emergency services. Under my supervision, this will not be allowed to continue.
On two counts of grand theft, two counts of commercial burglary and vandalism, and cutting a utility line, Jose Millafil, 30, Luka Pazitiani, 27, Javier Sepulveda, 24, Matias Vera, 34, Victor Iturriagalopez, 20, Edson Gonzalez, 33, and Cristian Gonzalezaburto, 30 were all charged. When the defendants appeared in the Burbank courthouse on Wednesday, they all entered not guilty pleas.
Information about the lawyers defending each defendant could not be immediately obtained from a district attorney’s office representative.
