ANAHEIM : 3 Held in Burglary After Police Sting

Police Friday morning arrested three men who allegedly had broken into a man’s home, stolen several items, then said they would sell the items back to him.

The three were arrested near a Yorba Linda shopping mall about 1 a.m. as they tried to drive away in a truck, Anaheim Police Sgt. Gary A. Querry said.

They were holding an undisclosed amount of cash wrapped in newspaper.

Querry said the case was opened late Thursday after the 41-year-old victim returned to his home in the 1600 block of South Melissa Way to find it had been ransacked.

The man, whose name was not released, called police, who arrived at his home about 7:30 p.m.

The missing items included golf clubs, a fax machine and a box that held personal documents, police said.

As police were there investigating, the victim received a phone call from someone who said the man could get his items back in exchange for cash.

Police declined to disclose how much the victim was asked to pay.

After more calls that evening from the would-be extortioners, a location in Yorba Linda for a cash drop-off was agreed upon, Querry said.

At 12:45 a.m., the victim went to a shopping mall at Yorba Linda Boulevard and New River.

He dropped off the money in a phone booth, where he got a phone call telling him to go to a second place at Santa Ana Canyon and Weir Canyon roads in Anaheim, where someone would meet him with his stolen items, Querry said.

“Much to his surprise, but not to ours, he went to the second location, but no one was there with his property,” Querry said.

Anaheim residents Cuong Kim Ma Tu, 21, and Khai Dinh Ma Vu, 22, and Santa Ana resident Thai Minh Ma Nguyen, 21, were arrested near the Yorba Linda drop-off point as they tried to drive away, Querry said.

Police said they do not know why the man was targeted. Police said they have not found the stolen items.

Querry added that there may be more people involved in the crime.