Police Catch Jewel-Theft Ring Suspect

A suspected member of a band of highly trained South American thieves, who was wanted for a $900,000 jewelry theft from a Van Nuys firm, has been arrested in the Fairfax District by detectives from a special unit who were secretly watching others in the ring, Los Angeles police said Wednesday.

Authorities believe that a tightly organized group with hundreds of members--trained in South American “schools” as expert pickpockets, shoplifters, street robbers and car burglars--is responsible for more than $500 million in thefts in the United States each year, with more than one-third of the losses in the Los Angeles area.

Edwin Lopez, 26, a Colombian believed to be a member of the ring, was being held at Parker Center Jail in lieu of $1 million bail, Detective Michael Woodings said. Lopez was arrested Tuesday on a warrant charging him with the Aug. 25 burglary of a canvas satchel of jewels from a car belonging to Sandra Smith, a saleswoman for Van Lightner Jewelry in Van Nuys.

Three other suspects in the theft remain at large, and the jewelry has not been recovered, police said.

Investigators believe that the thieves had followed Smith for as long as two days before the theft and cut her car’s radiator hose when she left it unattended at her San Fernando Valley home. The car eventually overheated on the Hollywood Freeway, prompting Smith to stop near Western Avenue.

While Smith left the locked car to get help, the thieves quickly moved in, broke a window and stole the satchel of jewels, Woodings said.

Fingerprints left on the car identified Lopez as a suspect, said Woodings, a member of the Organized Theft Unit formed by Los Angeles police earlier this year to target the South American ring.

“We believe he is part of that group,” Woodings said of Lopez. He said that Lopez has a lengthy arrest record, but would not elaborate on it.

Lopez refused to talk to investigators, police said, a trademark of the ring members, who have a code of silence enforced by death.

After Lopez was identified through his fingerprints, he was not seen until Tuesday night, when members of the special unit were conducting a surveillance of other suspected members of the ring in the area of Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street. No one else was arrested then.

“We were watching some other people and he turned up,” Woodings said. “It was a good break for us. He probably thought he was home free.”

Authorities said the high bail was set for Lopez because members of the ring routinely post bail--usually about $2,500 for auto burglary--and disappear on the infrequent occasions when they are caught.