5 El Toro Area Teens Arrested in Wave of County Burglaries

Five teen-agers suspected in a wave of burglaries in Mission Viejo, El Toro and other south Orange County communities have been arrested, and more than $20,000 worth of stolen merchandise has been recovered, authorities said Thursday.

Although four of the suspects are just 18 and the fifth is 19, Orange County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Bob Rivas said it appeared that “we are dealing with a fairly sophisticated operation. They had walkie-talkies and professional locksmithing tools that would enable them to open about anything.”

Rivas said the suspects were arrested Wednesday morning at two El Toro apartment complexes. Inside the apartments, deputies said they found more than $20,000 worth of stolen TVs, stereos, jewelry, lighting equipment, handguns and hunting rifles.

Linked With 12 Burglaries

A preliminary search of recent burglary reports has matched some of the goods with at least 12 burglaries in the south county area, mostly in El Toro, Mission Viejo and the Saddleback Valley region, Rivas said.

“By the time we get done,” he said, “I suspect you’ll find that (the burglaries) are even more spread out. They had a lot of stuff that was stored in those apartments. These kids weren’t fooling around.”

Rivas said the group may have worked the Laguna Hills and Rancho Santa Marguerita areas as well, although none of the recovered goods had been traced to those sites.

“You have to look at the whole area, and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

Arrested were Michael Ellis, Halem Baker, Lori Camu and Gary Hile, all 18 and all of the El Toro area. Also arrested was Thomas Anthony, 19, of El Toro. Ellis, Baker, Camu and Hile were arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property, grand theft and burglary. Anthony was booked on suspicion of possession of stolen property.

Bond for Ellis, Baker and Hile was set at $25,000, a $10,000 bond was set for Anthony and the woman in the group, Camu, was released on her own recognizance.

Rivas said it appeared that at least several of the suspects had shared the two El Toro apartments, one at The Timbers in the 23000 block of Ridge Route Drive and the second at The Gardens in the 24000 block of Muirlands Boulevard.

“This is more than just your little burglary ring,” Rivas said, noting that there has been a rash of burglaries in the Saddleback Valley area over the last few months.

Rivas said investigators believe that the suspects may have used the walkie-talkies to keep in touch with each other during residential break-ins, perhaps using one person as a lookout to alert the others if the homeowners were returning while the burglary was in progress.

“We don’t know that for a fact, but it did concern us when we found this headset with walkie- talkies and all those locking devices,” he said. “This one seemed like a sophisticated operation. I suspect the more we get into this, the more places it will lead.”

He said the locksmith equipment recovered apparently was used by the suspects to pick front and sliding door locks on homes.

“There were manuals on locksmithing too,” Rivas said, “Real professional stuff.”