Police Arrest 6 in Mall Shoplifting Ring

Police said Thursday that they recovered more than $100,000 in merchandise from the home of a Moreno Valley couple who have been charged with operating a professional shoplifting ring at the Glendale Galleria and other Southland shopping malls.

Four people--the couple and two brothers--were arrested outside the Glendale Galleria on Wednesday after police found more than 140 pieces of clothing from Robinsons-May, The Broadway and the KCET Store of Knowledge, and written “order forms” in their cars, said Sgt. Rick Young. Two others, including the son of a man arrested earlier, were taken into custody Thursday.

Two of the suspects had been seen by store guards stuffing clothes into lined plastic shopping bags, Young said. Police stationed at the mall followed them and saw the full bags handed off to two other suspects and replaced with empty ones, he said.

When the officers confronted the suspects, they fled on foot but were caught outside the Galleria, police said.

Investigators searching a home in Moreno Valley on Thursday found a storehouse of clothing, compact discs and laser discs, many of the items still bearing store labels, Young said. Two other suspects were later arrested in South Gate.

“Everything was on racks and stored and tagged. Obviously, they have hit numerous stores and malls throughout the Southland,” Young said. He added that judging from written records, the shoplifters have been at work for nearly two years and have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise.

Investigators allege that the suspects sold the stolen goods in Las Vegas, either through a fencing operation or at swap meets, Young said.

Police identified the suspects as Alejandro Sandoval, 29; his wife, Margie Robledo, 29, both of Moreno Valley; and Judith Guerrero, 19; Armando Perez, 39; his son, Armando Perez Jr., 20, and brother Jose Benjamin Perez, 34, all of South Gate.