Five People Arrested for Stealing From Cars of California Wildfire Evacuees

Police have arrested five people accused of stealing from cars belonging to California wildfire evacuees and taking over $75,000 worth of property, according to a police statement.

The burglary occurred on Dec. 5 at Oxnard when the Thomas fire was ripping through Ventura County. The owners of the two cars that were broken into had recently evacuated from their residence and were staying at a friend’s house for the night at Oxnard.

The family had placed a large number of their personal belongings in their car including jewelry, a guitar, clothing, electronics, and personal papers, which were all taken.

The police were able to track down the suspects from $10,000 in charges made to a credit card, authorities said.

Jasmine Zavala, 29, Maryann Zuniga, 29, and Juan Carrillo, 44 were all arrested on Dec. 10 for possession of stolen property among other charges after investigators executed a search warrant at an inn they were staying at and found property belonging to the victims.

Police arrested David Rosales, 28, about a week later on unrelated charges, however, during his arrest police found property belonging to the burglary victims allegedly in his possession. More property was recovered at Rosales’ residence in Camarillo.

During police investigations, Lisette Topete, 28, was also arrested in connection with the burglary, namely, receiving stolen property and possession of stolen credit cards, among other crimes.

Oxnard Police Department is urging the public to provide any further information in relation to the burglary.

From NTD.tv