Three brothers were sitting in jail Wednesday after Costa Mesa Police investigators fingered them for a string of “grab-and-run” thefts of clothing from South Coast Plaza stores.
The Perez brothers are accused of multiple burglaries from the tony shopping destination since December, and police believe they may have had help.
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Store personnel were typically distracted by two or three people when someone else would grab a large amount of clothing and make a beeline for the exits, at times removing the anti-theft sensors in the process.
The police investigation led cops to the Perez brothers' apartment in the 1000 block of Macarthur Boulevard in Santa Ana. Upon serving a search warrant, officers are said to have found clothing worth thousands of dollars. Some still had senors attached, and most had price tags from their respective South Coast Plaza stores.
Brian Perez, 21, was held on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property and conspiracy. He was held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Besides theft and burglary charges, his brothers Uriel Perez, 24, and Eric Perez, 23, were held without bail–Uriel because he is a parolee with warrants out and Eric because he, too, has warrants.
According to Lt. Paul Dondero, the investigation continues in hopes of snagging other suspects.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.