Burglars Have Upper Hand in Newport Beach

The burglars who have been picking through upscale homes in several Newport Beach neighborhoods are stealthy, yet infuriatingly bold. They have logged 31 successful break-ins since September--and a total take valued at nearly $1 million--without a stumble, police said.

Their latest and most profitable hit occurred last weekend, when the burglars slipped into two homes on Balboa Peninsula and emptied two elaborately concealed safes of more than $500,000 in jewelry, sterling silver and cash.

“We’re pulling our hair out over this,” said Newport Beach Police Det. Tom Gazsi. “They are rampaging through town, all over the place. It really makes you feel so vulnerable.”

The only close call for the burglars came three months ago, when two men scrambled from a fence to a balcony in Corona del Mar one Saturday afternoon and realized a neighbor was gazing at them from the house next door. The men fled, but the house was burglarized a few days later.

Only then did the neighbor report seeing the men, police said. One was described as white, about 20 years old, 5 feet, 8 inches tall with dark hair. He wore a dark jacket and boots. The other man was described as Latino, with very “sharp” facial features, wearing a dark jacket and military-style boots, police said.

That the burglars have been able to move around so blatantly is especially frustrating to police, Gazsi said. The thieves--detectives now suspect a two-man burglary team--have been known to drag ladders of all sizes down the street and prop them up against a house to get inside. They have climbed through bathroom windows in broad daylight and are not afraid to make noise, whether it means shattering glass or hammering into the drywall to free a bolted-down safe.

But they are savvy where it counts, Gazsi said. The burglars arrive when no one is home, a fact that may indicate they are watching their victims. They prefer to enter second-story windows or balconies and often cut alarm and telephone wires before breaking in. They take only small, expensive items they can easily carry and ignore electronics or pricey works of art.

“They’re very accomplished,” Gazsi said. “They are professionals, absolutely. These aren’t your weekend rookie crooks.”

Since the break-ins began, police have set up special surveillance teams and added more officers to patrol the targeted neighborhoods of Corona del Mar, Irvine Terrace, Balboa Peninsula, Bayside Drive and Balboa Island. Officers on bicycles and others with dogs have been assigned to the area, as well as undercover detectives in unmarked cars, said Sgt. John Desmond, a department spokesman.

“So far, we’ve got nothing,” he said. “It’s going to take someone seeing something and then calling us before we get a break on this. In the meantime, it’s extremely frustrating.”

To make matters worse, tracking the victims’ stolen property is nearly impossible in cases such as these, police said. Jewelry and silver flatware is rarely pawned; it’s more likely sold in various narcotics transactions. Burglars usually know private street buyers who will buy the goods and fence them to second-hand dealers in other cities, Gazsi said.

“It’s extremely difficult to track this stuff,” he said. “But there’s always that hope that some of it will surface someplace.”

Meanwhile, in five months police have learned enough about the burglars’ method of operation to warn neighbors of their habits. For example, they seem to prefer corner homes or houses near construction sites, perhaps hoping to blend in as workers, Gazsi said. They often make entry through the master suite or master bathroom, where many residents keep valuables. If possible, they like to break in through stationary windows not generally protected by the home’s security system. Most of the 31 burglaries have occurred between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Fridays or Saturdays, when many residents are away for the evening or out of town, police said.

“They are targeting very large, exceptional-looking homes,” Gazsi said. “These are impressive pieces of real estate, to say the least.”

Once inside, the burglars are thorough, but not terribly messy. They rummage through coat pockets and drawers and tilt pictures and mirrors in search of hidden safes, and yet they do not hurry. Costume jewelry is picked through, but mostly left behind. They will spend hours dismantling safes from walls, police said.

“This is not a case where the entire house is ransacked,” Gazsi said. “They are very deliberate in their work.”

Mercedes Thurmond, 58, was one of the most recent victims. She and her husband returned to their home on West Bay Avenue from a trip to Laughlin, Nev., about 2:30 p.m. Sunday to find it in disarray, with cowboy boot prints on the carpet.

At first, she said, she thought there had been an earthquake.

“Then when I walked farther, I saw it was all disheveled . . . I was just totally devastated. My heart was pounding.” To calm down, she said, “I had four drinks of vodka; I never felt one.”

The burglars took about 87 pieces of jewelry and other valuables worth about $200,000, as well as $10,000 in cash, she said.

“They were things that can’t be replaced,” including rings from her great-grandmother and gold bangle bracelets she had collected from travels to 18 countries.

“So they are insured. Even if I get every penny, I’m not going to go out and buy my mother’s diamond wristwatch. They don’t make those,” she said. “They took my heart with that other stuff.”

Unnerving, she said, is the fact that she and the residents around her participate in Neighborhood Watch, and none of them saw anything unusual all weekend.

Thurmond said she has cried a lot since the break-in, and her feelings run a gamut from sadness to anger and guilt.

“I could have upgraded my locks and windows. But you keep putting it off and putting it off,” she said.

She said she even finds herself suspiciously eyeing the jewelry of other women when she goes out, to see if it looks familiar.

“It will take a long time to get over that fear.” Police ask that anyone with information on the burglaries call the Newport Beach Police Department at (714) 644-3696.

Also contributing to this story was Times staff writer Steve Carney. Bonnie Hayes can be reached at (714) 966-5848 or at bonnie.hayes@latimes.com

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Home Protection

Police encourage residents to reduce their chances of becoming victims of burglary by following these suggestions:

* Always lock your doors and windows, even when leaving “for just a minute.”

* Use timers so lights, radios, and televisions go on and off throughout the house to give the impression someone is home.

* Keep trees and shrubs trimmed to eliminate hiding places and permit maximum visibility.

* When leaving for extended periods, have a trusted neighbor collect newspapers and mail.

* Install motion-sensor lighting around the exterior of your home.

* Report any suspicious person or activity to police immediately. While some “suspicious” activities may prove to have innocent explanations, police would rather investigate quickly than be called when it is too late.

* Make sure your home alarm system is working and covers any upper stories, including master bedrooms and bathrooms.

* Secure all upstairs windows and doors as you would on the first floor.

Source: Newport Beach Police Department, crime prevention unit