IRVINE, CA — An Orange County woman fell victim to a group of pickpockets who stole her wallet out of her purse at an Irvine Homegoods store, police say.
Several recent pickpocket incidents drew the Irvine officers to canvas multiple Orange County shopping centers Friday afternoon when the theft occurred, according to Sgt. Karie Davies.
On Friday afternoon, an Irvine officer saw two men and two women acting suspiciously, leaving HomeGoods in Irvine.
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“The group was walking briskly and kept looking over their shoulder as if they were making sure nobody was following them,” she said.
As they approached a vehicle parked behind the store, the officer noticed one of the men manipulating the rear temporary license plate by folding it up so it was unreadable, according to Davies.
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Officers followed the suspects to the Irvine Spectrum and initiated a traffic stop. They searched the car and found a wallet and a magnetic device used to decode credit card information.
“The wallet’s owner was found and confirmed that it had been missing since a shopping trip to HomeGoods,” Davies said. “Luckily, the suspects were not able to use her credit cards before being caught.”
Video of the pickpockets in action at Homegoods shows them in an “organized distraction theft” as they surround a shopper and attempt to steal her wallet from her bag. In this case, police say, they failed.
“This shows the tactics that are consistent with organized retail crime,” Davies said.
In total, police were able to nab four suspects, all from the Los Angeles area, now behind bars on suspicion of burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, grand theft, and possession of identity theft material, according to the department.
They were identified as Maria Beltran, 52, and Thonson Yeamier Gomezbarreto, 32, both of North Hollywood, and Laidy Viviana Moraleon, 36, and William Alberto Melomontenegro, 38, both of Los Angeles.
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