Residential burglaries are happening more and more frequently throughout Southern California, and residents are getting anxious. Over the past months, law enforcement has struggled to identify, let alone apprehend, suspects related to most of the burglaries and now they think they know why.
According to law enforcement, many of the recent burglaries might be due to a South American Theft Group.
These are groups of people from various South American countries who band together and come to the US to steal valuables. They then take the valuables back to their home country, sell them, and live off the profits. In the Redlands area alone, tens of thousands of dollars worth of items have been stolen during half a dozen burglaries.
The burglaries typically occur between the hours of 3pm and 7:30pm. The homes most frequently targeted are those near open hillsides, beltways, trails, etc. that offer a quick and stealthy escape for the thieves. Additionally, the areas the homes are in are usually affluent ones. The thieves usually show up in groups and will sometimes be in disguises, including backpacks, face coverings, orange construction vests, and sometimes they carry bright orange construction cones.
Law enforcement officials are thinking that the group hitting Southern California homes is part of the larger South American Theft Group that is operating in different locations all across the country. The group remains at large, and there aren’t really any useful descriptions or anything else to go on. Residents’ best bet is to take extra security precautions – particularly if you live in an affluent area, are gone frequently, and the land around your home possesses features that might make it easy for groups of people to escape after robbing you.
Even if these particular thieves are caught, it is unlikely that the crime wave will end. Theft groups like this have operated for decades all across the US.
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