Couple Arrested in String of Robberies, Burglaries

The couple who police say left their 18-month-old son in his car seat while they robbed and burglarized hardware stores and sandwich shops from Fontana to Laguna Niguel were charged Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court in Laguna Niguel.

Todd Hill Smith, 32, and Rebecca Jean Mangan, 24, whose last address was a Fontana motel, appeared before Superior Court Judge Carl Biggs in connection with 14 robberies and burglaries. Their bail was set at $250,000 and $150,000, respectively.

The judge granted the prosecution’s request for higher than standard bail because Orange County sheriff’s deputies allegedly found a loaded sawed-off shotgun in the couple’s truck the night of the arrests, and a loaded shotgun in their motel room. A pellet gun was reportedly used in several of the robberies.

The toddler was not mentioned in the court proceedings, and the boy, whose name was not released, was last believed to be with his maternal grandmother, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

Two things stood out about the case, he said: “A 1-year-old child was in the vehicle; that’s unusual in itself. The other thing is that usually a burglar is a burglar, a robber is a robber, and not both. They were doing both.” Robbery involves the threat of violence, whereas burglary is entering a building and remaining there unlawfully with criminal intent.

Arraignment was continued to Feb. 28 so lawyers in the public defender’s office in Santa Ana could be permanently assigned to their defense. If convicted of the felonies, Smith could be sentenced to a total of 16 years and Mangan to nearly 10 years, Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Mike Pear said.

The boy was not with his parents when they were arrested early Monday, but store surveillance camera footage and witness statements indicate that he was in their white Chevy pickup for about half of the 14 crimes they are charged with, Amormino said.

Smith, an unemployed construction worker from the La Mirada area, and Mangan, 24, who gave no employment information to detectives, were arrested after allegedly trying to elude a dragnet around an apartment complex by hot-wiring a car, which died on them.

Found in their abandoned truck were the gun and an ax, but no drugs or property linked to previous burglaries, Amormino said.

The 14 crimes began about two weeks ago and occurred in Orange County as well as San Bernardino, Fontana, Corona and other communities. Surveillance cameras at four or more stores captured Smith and Mangan in the course of break-ins or robberies, authorities said.

In at least two videos, the child is seen in the truck, Amormino said.

After a Laguna Niguel robbery Sunday evening, officers were given a description of the truck and the two thieves: a white man with shaved head and tattooed hands and a young white woman with long light brown hair.

A deputy patrolling in Rancho Santa Margarita spotted the truck, lost sight of it as he turned around, then found it abandoned at an apartment complex. Two hours later, a 1959 Ford Fairlane left the complex with a couple who looked like the thieves. As a deputy pulled behind, the car died, restarted, then stalled, and the pair were arrested.