EIGHT DEFENDANTS TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR STEALING OVER $200,000 WORTH OF HIGH-END BATHING SUITS FROM WAREHOUSE

EIGHT DEFENDANTS TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR STEALING OVER $200,000 WORTH OF HIGH-END BATHING SUITS FROM WAREHOUSE

SANTA ANA – Six men and two women from Los Angeles County will be arraigned today for stealing over $200,000 worth of high-end bathing suits from a Tustin warehouse. Baldomero Lopez Morales, 28, Downey, Allan Jose Lopez, 25, Downey, Omar Bermejo-Cruz, 27, Downey, Johnathan Alexander Chamorro, 24, Bellflower, Rogasiano Carpintero, 35, Los Angeles, and Jose Luis Montecinos, 26, Los Angeles, are all charged with one felony count each of second degree burglary, grand theft, vandalism causing more than $400 worth of damage, unlawful taking of a vehicle, and receiving stolen property with a sentencing enhancement for property loss over $200,000. Guillermina Ventura-Moran, 33, Huntington Park, and Norma Yaneli Sanchez, 26, Los Angeles, are each charged with one felony count each of second degree burglary and grand theft with a sentencing enhancement for property loss over $200,000. Carpintero has four prior prison convictions in Los Angeles and Orange County for grand theft and commercial burglary.

If convicted on all counts, Carpintero faces a maximum sentence of 10 years and four months in prison. Morales, Lopez, Bermejo-Cruz, Chamorro, Carpintero, and Montecinos all face a maximum sentence of six years and four months in prison if convicted. Ventura-Moran and Sanchez face a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted. Bail is currently set at $250,000 and the defendants are expected to be arraigned before 7:00 p.m. today, May 30, 2012, in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.

In the early morning hours of May 27, 2012, Morales, Lopez, Bermejo-Cruz, Chamorro, Carpintero, and Montecinos are accused of cutting through a fence and entering Raj Manufacturing near the 2600 block of Dow Avenue in Tustin. Once inside, the defendants are accused of stealing over $200,000 worth of high-end bathing suits from the building and loading it into a white van. Ventura-Moran and Sanchez are accused of patrolling the area in a separate vehicle as lookouts.

At approximately 5:30 a.m., the Tustin Police Department (TPD) observed the suspicious white van during a patrol in the area due to an increase in industrial business thefts. The defendants are accused of fleeing in their van on the Interstate 405. When TPD attempted to stop the van, the defendants are accused of jumping out as it was moving and attempting to flee from officers. TPD with assistance from Costa Mesa Police Department officers were able to arrest the six defendants.

Ventura-Moran and Sanchez are accused of driving northbound on the Interstate 5. TPD officers were able to locate their car and stop them. Both defendants were arrested.

The investigation by TPD is on-going, anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact TPD Sergeant Robert Wright at (714) 573-3257 or Supervising District Attorney Ron Frazier at (714) 347-8691.