D.A.’s office forms unit to battle jewelry heists

Greg Risling

SANTA ANA -- They like to target unsuspecting victims, most of whom

frequent high-end stores in South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island.

They have a penchant for jewelry that can be quickly exchanged on the

black market for cash. They will threaten and even attack their victims

in order to get the valuable loot.

They are known in law enforcement circles as South American Theft

Groups, a band of thieves who target jewelry salespeople and other

victims with easy access to money.

But their opportunities may be diminishing thanks to the formation of

a special prosecution unit that will help combat the number of robberies.

The two-man team assigned to handle the caseload within the Orange

County district attorney’s office is Mike Lubinski and Ebrahim Baytieh.

The duo will be working closely with police departments, including the

agencies in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, that have seen a rash of

jewelry robberies in the last year.

“The best way to deal with these cases effectively is having a

specific district attorney working with a police agency often,” Baytieh

said. “It’s best to deal with people who are doing the work from

beginning to the end.”

Lubinski and Baytieh were assigned to their new positions this summer.

The prosecutors had already seen five cases come across their desk within

the past two months and realized they needed to focus on the robberies.

They gained their first conviction two weeks ago against two men who

tried to steal a suitcase full of jewelry in July at the Four Seasons

Hotel in Newport Beach. The robbers took the wrong bag, which had

clothing, and were convicted to a year in prison. Their cohorts haven’t

been caught.

The two men are believed to be tied to an elusive ring of robbers who

hail from South America and roam the greater Los Angeles area for easy

scores. They follow their victims, primarily jewelry salespeople, for

hours, even days, before surrounding them and taking their goods.

In June, two jewelry vendors were robbed at gunpoint as they left

Fashion Island. Three to four men confronted them and took about $1.5

million in jewelry.

There have been other incidents around Los Angeles that have been

attributed to the roving group.

The formation of the special prosecution unit was done in part for

that reason.

“There is a lot of intelligence going back and forth between

agencies,” said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Mike McDermott. “Now, we have

better avenues of information that can possibly help lead to arrests.”

The prosecutors admit the crooks have been hard to catch, but once

they are in the courtroom the suspected robbers would be hard pressed to

get off lightly.

“As long as these guys are doing it, we will be here,” Baytieh said.

“I think things will get better over time because jewelry salespeople are

learning more about what is going on and they may start to do different

things to prevent these thefts.”