Three men were arrested in connection with a transnational organized residential burglary crime ring in Orange County on Wednesday.
Officers with the Irvine Police Department say John Brayan Soliz-Reinoso, 32, Francisco Alegria, 32, and Daniel Mejias-Reinoso, 22, were arrested on burglary charges.
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The three men are accused of breaking into homes in Newport Beach and Irvine, and officers said the men are linked to a Chilean burglary outfit that targets homes in Southern California and elsewhere.
Irvine police spokesman Ziggy Azarcon told KNX News that investigators tracked the men on January 10 and followed them as they drove from the San Fernando Valley to Orange County.
“What really caught our concern is when they exited the freeway, they exited and entered the city of Irvine, and went to the Shady Canyon community, which has been burglarized before,” he said. “They parked their vehicles, and you can see them on video running from the car and jumping fences with backpacks on and appeared to be hiding in the bush-lined areas of trails, which were very common with this type of organized crews. Something alerted them at the time, and it looked like they ran back to their vehicle and then quickly took off, but then we still kept our surveillance up and followed them to the Turtle Rock community in the city of Irvine, which has also had previous burglaries as well.”
All three men were booked at Orange County Jail.
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