{"id":149371,"date":"2026-05-21T00:13:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T00:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/7-arrested-in-action-on-increase-in-residential-theft-in-the-valley\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T00:17:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T00:17:05","slug":"7-arrested-in-action-on-increase-in-residential-theft-in-the-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/7-arrested-in-action-on-increase-in-residential-theft-in-the-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"7 arrested in action on increase in residential theft in the valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Seven people have been charged in connection with a surge in residential burglaries by a crew of “brazen, calculated and predatory” thieves in the San Fernando Valley, authorities said.<\/p>\n

According to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, the suspects are accused of participating in at least 20 home burglaries and making off with purses, expensive handbags, watches, jewelry and more. <\/p>\n

“These defendants are accused of breaking into neighborhoods, vandalizing homes, and stealing from families who were traumatized and violated,” the district said. Atty. Nathan Hochman in a statement. <\/p>\n

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Police said stolen goods and theft equipment were collected in the operation, which led to several arrests.<\/p>\n

(Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Although organized burglary squads targeting residential homes are a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, there was an increase in incidents in the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas last month, with thieves targeting nine homes in just one week period. In response, LA Mayor Karen Bass directed the Los Angeles Police Department to increase patrols on Ventura Boulevard, a theft hotspot.<\/p>\n

LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said the recently arrested suspects conducted extensive research of the properties and attempted to conceal their crimes by using burner phones and cars rented under fake identities.<\/p>\n

Luna said at a news conference Wednesday that organized burglary teams are “increasingly targeting affluent neighborhoods and often select homes near golf courses, parks and hiking trails, and open space areas that provide easy access and escape routes.”<\/p>\n

Last month, LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell said that many of these residential burglaries are linked to burglary gangs from South America, as well as groups based in South LA. He said crews use similar tools such as hidden cameras to determine when residents leave their homes, Wi-Fi jammers to disrupt home security systems and ladders to get inside homes through second-floor windows.<\/p>\n

The LAPD, LA County Sheriff’s Department and Ventura County Sheriff’s Department worked together to capture seven alleged thieves.<\/p>\n

Byron Gonzalo Saez Sotomayor is accused of burglarizing or attempting to burglarize 18 homes in the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles, often targeting multiple homes in a single evening, prosecutors said. He was arrested on May 4 while fleeing an alleged burglary in the Beverlywood area.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to 15 counts of residential burglary, three counts of attempted residential burglary and one count of grand theft of a firearm. He is being held in lieu of $1.4 million bail and faces up to 26 years in state prison if convicted as charged.<\/p>\n

Christopher Sanchez, 26, Owen Rivera-Chacon, 24, and Edison Fabian Boyaca, 27, were arrested May 1 during a surveillance operation of a suspected burglary squad in Santa Clarita, prosecutors said. They are each charged with one felony count of residential burglary, and Rivera-Chacon faces pre-strike sentencing charges for residential burglary. <\/p>\n

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The jewelry was collected as evidence in the arrest of seven suspected thieves in the San Fernando Valley.<\/p>\n

(Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

They have all pleaded not guilty. If convicted as charged, Sanchez and Boyaca each face six years in state prison, while Rivera-Chacon faces 17 years in state prison.<\/p>\n

The final three alleged thieves \u2013 identified as Wilmer Santiago Castelblanco-Robles, 20, Alan Rolando Rodriguez-Pulido, 34, and Cristian Rios-Cuadros, 24, were arrested April 26 after neighbors found Rios-Cuadros and Castelblanco-Robles at a Burbank home, prosecutors said. Saw entry and called the police. Police said the pair fled on foot, and officers caught up to them, while Rodriguez-Pulido was arrested nearby driving a suspicious vehicle. <\/p>\n

They have each been charged with a felony count of residential burglary and face six years in state prison if convicted as charged. Castelblanco-Robles and Rios-Cuadros have pleaded not guilty, while Rodriguez-Pulido’s mental competency hearing is scheduled for June 16.<\/p>\n

“Residential burglaries threaten people’s sense of security and we are responding with precision, urgency and coordination,” McDonnell said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cThe LAPD will continue to relentlessly pursue organized theft gangs until our neighborhoods are safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff writers Rong-Gong Lin II and Salvador Hernandez contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seven people have been charged in connection with a surge in residential burglaries by a crew of “brazen, calculated and predatory” thieves in the San Fernando Valley, authorities said. According to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, the suspects are accused of participating in at least 20 home burglaries and making off with purses, expensive<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1877,159,3838,7628,5334,3009],"class_list":["post-149371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bible-verse","tag-action","tag-arrested","tag-increase","tag-residential","tag-theft","tag-valley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149377,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149371\/revisions\/149377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}