The Orange County Sheriff’s Department arrested two individuals August 14 who are allegedly connected to a string of home burglaries in South Orange County, including the cities of Laguna Hills, San Juan Capistrano, and Rancho Santa Margarita.
The department’s Directed Enforcement Team found the suspects with support from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department during an active residential burglary of Antigua Way in Newport Beach.
The two suspects attempted to flee the crime scene, where police engaged in a short pursuit, the department wrote in a statement.
After intentionally hitting a police vehicle while evading arrest, the suspects fled on foot in a nearby neighborhood, where the department found and arrested them after a thorough search involving K-9, Harbor Patrol, and Air support units.
The two suspects were identified as Hollywood resident Juan Veramancini, 44 years old, and Rodrigo Torres Marini, 24 years old, with an unknown city of residence.
After searching the suspects’ vehicle, police found more than $250,000 of stolen jewelry and other personal items inside.
“The investigators are going to have to work through all that recovered property to see if there’s additional victims,” OCSD public information officer Sergeant Ryan Anderson told The Epoch Times.
Anderson noted that a few stolen items included a diamond ring and a Rolex watch, as well as other pieces of jewelry, which contributed to the total amount of stolen goods.
“You obviously have a decent amount of items that were recovered, and some of those items are of higher value,” he said. “Obviously, that’s a pretty large diamond ring and a watch of that make is going to be worth a substantial amount of money. Items like these are easy targets to steal from a residence and make off with.”
Veramancini and Marini were booked into Orange County jail for burglary, grand theft, assault on a peace officer after intentionally hitting the patrol vehicle, resisting arrest, and conspiracy.
There may still be additional outstanding subjects related to the series of burglaries in South Orange County, Anderson said.
The department could not say how the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the arrest due to it being an open investigation. The department also noted that the Newport Beach Police Department, Costa Mesa Police Department, Irvine Police Department, and Huntington Beach Police Department helped to apprehend the suspects.
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