A crew of alleged pickpockets targeting shoppers at an Irvine HomeGoods were snagged by the long arm of the law, Irvine Police Department disclosed in a recent bust. Officials reported Friday's crackdown came after officers had their eyes peeled on several shopping centers, a response to a spate of thefts.

The suspicious behavior of two men and a pair of women, who hastened towards their ride—a sedan with a temp tag craftily concealed by a fold to thwart identification—tipped off the cops. The quartet's perchance escape to a car parked in the shadow of a HomeGoods didn't deter the lawmen, who tailed the suspects to Irvine Spectrum. A routine traffic stop revealed their haul: a wallet belonging to an unlucky shopper and a magnetic tool devised to pilfer credit card details, KTLA reports.

Arrested and booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of burglary and other related crimes were Maria Beltran, 52; Thonson Yeamier Gomezbarreto, 32; Laidy Viviana Moraleon, 36; and William Alberto Melomontenegro, 38. The recovered wallet, gratifyingly, was returned to its rightful owner before the pickpockets could take a shopping spree on someone else's dime.

The methods deployed by these individuals were not unfamiliar to the police force. The brazen group's prior antics were caught on surveillance footage, released by Irvine police. Walking behind a shopper's back, one woman appears to engage a customer in conversation as a distraction allowing another suspect to go after the goods undetected. The attempt at thievery was botched, as the Irvine Police laid bare on their X feed, describing the suspects' maneuvers as "consistent with organized distraction thefts," and urging shoppers to stay alert. The video evidence clearly showed the group inside HomeGoods attempting to swipe a wallet from another victim, but their plans were foiled, with the Irvine Police Department X post clarifying that this theft attempt did not succeed.

 

#IRVINEPDPIO - On Friday, March 22, 2024, at about 3:00 p.m., IPD officers were conducting surveillance in shopping centers due to recent organized distraction thefts. An officer observed two males and two females walk to a sedan parked to the rear of HomeGoods. The group was

— Irvine Police Department (@IrvinePolice) March 27, 2024

 

Police advise the public to keep a vigilant eye on their belongings and to report any suspicious activity they may detect.