11 charged in $1.2 million jewelry heists

November 16, 2009
By ANDREW GALVIN
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Eleven residents of San Diego County have been indicted for what prosecutors say was their role in armed robberies of jewelry stores in Laguna Beach and Tustin, and some were charged with identity theft and street terrorism, prosecutors said today.

Nine of the 11 defendants are members of a San Diego criminal street gang, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.

Three are accused of robbing Baca Jewelers in Laguna Beach at gunpoint Aug. 25, stealing more than $1 million in watches and jewelry. Three are accused of robbing Tustin Village Jewelers at gunpoint of more than $160,000 in jewelry Aug. 4.

The 11 defendants are:

•Pedro Avina Hernandez, 29, who is charged in the Laguna Beach robbery and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

•Alonso Jose Lopez, 31, also charged in the Laguna Beach robbery and held in lieu of $1 million bail.

•Michael Dennis Burgin, accused in both robberies and held in lieu of $1 million bail.

•Adam Weick, 28, accused in the Tustin robbery and held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

•Aida Arroyo, 27, charged in the Tustin robbery and held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

•Sylvia Elena Castaneda, 28, accused of attempting to impede the police investigation and held in lieu of $1 million bail.

•Salvador Barajas, 29, accused of receiving stolen property and held in lieu of $75,000 bail.

•Touradj Barman, 66, accused of receiving stolen property and held in lieu of $75,000 bail.

•Jose Jesus Garcia, 35, accused of receiving stolen property and out of custody on $20,000 bail.

•Daisy Oregon, 21, accused of receiving stolen property and held in lieu of $75,000 bail.

•Arturo Carlos Perez, 21, accused of being an accessory after the fact and held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

On Aug. 4 at about 5 p.m., according to prosecutors, Arroyo entered Tustin Village Jewelers under the pretense of selling a ring. The owner buzzed Arroyo in through the store's security gates, prosecutors said. While the two were negotiating a price, Arroyo asked to be let out of the store to make a phone call, prosecutors said. When the owner buzzed the gate to let Arroyo out, according to prosecutors, Burgin and Weick rushed in wearing caps and bandannas and armed with guns.

One of the defendants is accused of holding a gun to the back of the owner's head and threatening to shoot him if he did not open the safe to give them access to diamonds, prosecutors said. The defendants then duct-taped the owner and put him in the bathroom, prosecutors said. Burgin, Weick and Arroyo are accused of stealing more than $160,000 in jewelry and fleeing the scene.

On Aug. 25 at about 7 p.m., Lopez, Burgin and Hernandez are accused of entering Baca Jewelers in Laguna Beach just before closing time, wearing black and trying to hide their faces by wearing hoods and baseball caps. The trio robbed a store employee at gunpoint and fled with more than $1 million of watches and jewelry, prosecutors said.

The three then led Laguna Beach police on a pursuit that ended when they abandoned their car in an Aliso Viejo parking garage and fled on foot Laguna Beach police later learned that the abandoned car was owned by Castaneda, prosecutors said. Castaneda is accused of attempting to impede the police investigation by reporting her car stolen in San Diego County when she actually loaned it to Lopez, Burgin and Hernandez, knowing it would be used for a robbery, prosecutors said.

When Laguna Beach police put out a bulletin about the Baca Jewelers robbery, Tustin police noticed similarities between the two crimes and the agencies began investigating jointly.

Perez is accused of helping Lopez hide in an Oceanside home and obtaining a calling card for him.

On Sept. 8, Castaneda is accused of being driven with Oregon and Arroyo to Laguna Beach by Barajas to pick up her car, which had been impounded by Laguna Beach police. While Castaneda was meeting with police, the three others stole mail from mailboxes in Laguna Beach, prosecutors said. Arroyo fraudulently used credit cards that had been stolen in San Diego County the day before, prosecutors said.

Investigators later found that two secondhand jewelry stores in San Diego County, J&L Jewelers and San Diego Jewelry and Loan, were selling some of the stolen jewelry. Garcia is accused of grinding the identity markings off stolen jewelry to make identification more difficult. Barman is accused of purchasing property knowing it had been stolen.

The indictment was issued Oct. 26, but details of the allegations were unsealed just today, prosecutors said. All of the defendants except Garcia and Barman are accused of being members of a San Diego street gang and are accused of committing the crimes for the benefit of the gang.

Most of the stolen jewelry hasn't been recovered. Investigators are looking into whether the defendants might have been involved in other robberies of San Diego and Orange County jewelry stores, prosecutors said.

The defendants are scheduled for arraignment Dec. 4 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

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