Eleven under indictment in jewelry store robbery

An Orange County grand jury has indicted 11 suspects — including nine alleged members of a San Diego criminal street gang — in a crime spree involving the armed robbery of two jewelry stores, including one in Laguna Beach, in addition to alleged identity theft, and street terrorism.

Law enforcement officials allege that, while retrieving a vehicle impounded by Laguna Beach Police after a pursuit of the armed robbery suspects, members of the gang stole mail from Laguna Beach mailboxes.

Most of the stolen property has not been recovered. The Aug. 25 armed robbery at Baca Jewelry store on Forest Avenue all but wiped out the contents of the store, a $1 million loss.

A 20-count indictment was issued Oct. 26 against the defendants, all residents of San Diego County, who face sentences ranging from three years up to 35 years to life in state prison if convicted. The defendants are all scheduled for arraignment Dec. 4. Nine of the 11 suspects are in custody, according to the district attorney’s office.

This case was jointly investigated by the Laguna Beach and Tustin Police Departments and Orange County District Attorney’s Office with assistance from the Orange County and San Diego County Sheriff’s Departments, Chula Vista and Oceanside Police Departments, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The defendants are: Aida Arroyo, 27; Salvador Barajas, 29; Touradj Barman, 66; Michael Dennis Burgin, 30; Sylvia Elena Castaneda, 28; Jose Jesus Garcia, 35; Pedro Avina Hernandez, 29; Alonso Jose Lopez, 31; Daisy Oregon, 21; Arturo Carlos Perez, 21; and Adam Weick, 28.

At about 7 p.m. Aug. 25, Lopez, Burgin, and Hernandez are accused of entering Baca Jewelers in Laguna Beach as the store was closing. They are accused of dressing in black and attempting to hide their faces by wearing hoods and baseball caps. The defendants are accused of robbing a store employee at gunpoint and stealing more than $1 million in watches and jewelry before fleeing the scene.

Police officers chased the trio from Laguna Beach to Aliso Viejo, where they abandoned their car in an Aliso Viejo parking garage and escaped. Police officers learned that the abandoned vehicle was owned by Castaneda. Castaneda is accused of attempting to impede the police investigation by reporting her car stolen in San Diego County, despite loaning it to Lopez, Burgin, and Hernandez allegedly knowing that it would be used for a jewelry store burglary.

Perez is accused of assisting Lopez evade arrest and hide in an Oceanside home by acting as a look-out to determine if police were watching the home and obtaining a calling card for Lopez to make phone calls without detection. Based on a law enforcement bulletin put out by Laguna police, Tustin police noticed similarities between that robbery and one on August 4 in Tustin, and the agencies began jointly investigating their cases.

The Tustin robbery occurred at about 5 p.m. Aug. 4. Police allege that Arroyo entered Tustin Village Jewelers under the pretense of selling a ring. The jewelry store has security gates and the defendant was buzzed in. While negotiating a price with the store owner, Arroyo is accused of asking to be let out of the store to make a phone call. When the owner buzzed the security gate to let Arroyo out, Burgin and Weick allegedly rushed in to the store wearing caps and bandannas. They allegedly brandished firearms and demanded that the victim unlock the jewelry cases to give them access to the diamonds.

One of the defendants is accused of holding a gun to the back of the victim’s head and threatening to shoot him if he did not open the safe. The defendants are accused of then duct-taping the victim and putting him in the bathroom. Burgin, Weick, and Arroyo are accused of stealing more than $160,000 in jewelry and fleeing the scene.

On Sept. 8, Castaneda is accused of being driven with Oregon and Arroyo to Laguna Beach by Barajas to pick up her car, which had been abandoned after the Aug. 25 robbery and impounded by Laguna Beach police. While Castaneda was meeting with police, the three other defendants are accused of stealing mail from local Laguna Beach mail boxes. Arroyo is also accused of being in possession of and fraudulently using credit cards, which had been stolen in San Diego County the day before.

Subsequent investigation into the robberies revealed that two second hand jewelry stores in San Diego County, San Diego Jewelry and Loan and J&L; Jewelers, were selling some of the stolen jewelry. Garcia is accused of attempting to make identifying the stolen jewelry more difficult by grinding off identifying markings. Barman is accused of purchasing the property, knowing it had been stolen.

All of the defendants, except for Barman and Garcia, are accused of being members or associates of a San Diego Hispanic criminal street gang. The majority of the stolen property has not been recovered and there is an ongoing investigation to determine whether the defendants were involved in other robberies of Orange and San Diego County jewelry stores.

Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Laguna Beach Police Detective Debra Kelso at (949) 497-0371, or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Hector Pantoja at (714) 347-8844. Senior Deputy District Attorney Jim Mendelson of the Gang Unit is prosecuting this case.