105 Stung by Anaheim Police : Undercover Officers Recover $1.4 Million in Items

A stolen-property sting operation thought to be the largest ever in Orange County ended Friday morning with charges filed against 105 suspects and the recovery of nearly $1.4 million in items that were allegedly sold back to undercover Anaheim police officers.

Anaheim Police Chief Joseph T. Molloy announced at a news conference that about half of the suspects had been arrested by mid-morning by eight teams of officers in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

The 60 arrests--made in carefully planned surprise visits to the suspects’ homes--culminated a 10-month-long undercover investigation conducted by six officers of Anaheim’s Special Operations Division Crime Task Force Unit, who bought everything from brand new cars to television sets, electronic equipment and guns from suspects.

Most of the suspects who were not arrested Friday were already in jail, police said. But about seven remained at large.

The undercover officers said they rented an apartment in southwest Anaheim and bought stolen property 220 times from suspects, who were videotaped with a hidden camera.

The sting operation was paid for with the help of an $80,000 grant from the governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Planning.

The $1.4 million in recovered stolen property far exceeded detectives’ expectations for the sting. And police said officers were able to return 99% of the property to the owners, largely because the thieves divulged details about the stolen goods.

“Our goal was to get about $350,000 worth,” said Anaheim Sgt. Jim Flammini, who was in charge of the operation. “This wasn’t police chasing crooks. This was crooks chasing cops. They wanted our money. And we were happy to do that.”

The sting worked like this: Beginning in June, undercover officers put out word of a place where stolen property could be sold fast and easily. News spread rapidly. Six officers took turns at the apartment and remained on call 24 hours a day. When their pagers went off, a rendezvous was arranged. Usually the purchase took place in the apartment, but occasionally officers met suspects elsewhere.

Most of the purchases were captured on videotape.

One challenge was to get the sellers to divulge their names--without seeming too interested--so that they could be tracked down and arrested later, said Capt. John Flanagan, commander of the sting. But often, after the officers introduced themselves, the suspects gave their first names. No matter what it was, the officers said they had too many customers with that name and needed a “street” name to keep everybody straight.

“Half the time these people would just tell us their whole names,” Flammini said.

And talk, the suspects did.

One crook bragged about being too smart to get arrested as he sold the officers stolen credit cards--and told them his full name.

Another thief regaled the officers with examples of his criminal cleverness as he painstakingly combed his hair, using a mirror that turned out to be hiding the video camera.

On a Religious Kick

“I was on a religious kick for about a year but that didn’t pay off too well, so for the past 6 months, I’ve been on a crime spree to get the money,” said a 28-year-old man with a criminal history who delivered a stolen car to the undercover cops.

Most of 90 men and 15 women who sold officers the hot goods left them amused, Flammini said, but one seller tested their acting skills.

In a conversation that was videotaped, the 30-year-old convicted burglar and drug addict asked if they had heard about the Anaheim motorcycle officer who was killed last year outside Anaheim Stadium. “I was glad to hear it,” he told them. “I hate the cops in that city. They’re a bunch of (expletive).”

The officers laughed uncomfortably and agreed with the buyer, Flammini said. But the whole team was very upset. “We came back and we were so damn furious about it.”

That suspect remained at large Friday night.

The 76 officers began their sweep at 6:30 a.m. Friday, fanning out in teams throughout Southern California, but primarily in Orange County. Officers bearing arrest warrants paid surprise visits to the suspects’ homes. And many of the suspects had made it easy for detectives to find them, giving their full names and addresses to what they believed were fellow criminals.

105 Warrants

A total of 105 arrest warrants were issued in the sting, charging suspects with crimes including robbery, burglary, grand theft, receiving stolen property, auto theft and drug sales, Molloy said.

The sting operation began last July with the purchase of new microwaves that had been stolen from a Corona housing tract. The six task force officers steadily “fenced” a flood of items from suspected thieves out the Anaheim apartment, police said. They bought everything from guns and electronic equipment to brand new cars, air-conditioners, airline tickets and car engines.

Molloy said the officers paid a total of about $29,000 to recover stolen items--or about 2 cents on the dollar: $200 for a 1988 white Lincoln valued at $30,000, and $500 for a 1988 Corvette also worth $30,000. The real steal was five 1988 International tractor semis worth $60,000 each, which officers paid nothing for because the alleged crooks failed to deliver a sixth truck they promised.

“That’s a pretty good return on our dollar,” Molloy quipped.

“So many times people think police aren’t doing anything because somebody reports a bicycle is stolen and they never get it back,” Anaheim City Councilman Irv Pickler said. “But this shows you what the police can do. I think it’s a very innovative program.”

Funded by Grant

The Anaheim sting is the only one of its kind in Orange County that has been funded by the grant program that the state Office of Criminal Justice Planning administers.

A spokesman for that office said the grants are scarce and the bidding competitive among law enforcement agencies. Anaheim earned the grant by submitting an impressive application that mapped out exactly how the police would set up the sting and where the grant money would be spent, said G. Albert Howenstein Jr., executive director of the criminal justice planning office.

Molloy said that the operation was successful enough to continue but that the grant money had run out.

In fact, even after the arrests Friday, a pager that suspects had been given to contact the undercover officers continued to beep into the afternoon.