Four Rancho Santa Fe suspects plead not guilty to first degree burglary
SAN DIEGO — Four people accused of breaking into a home in the Rancho Santa Fe neighborhood that led police on a chase had their first court appearance Thursday.
The four pleaded not guilty to several charges.
Ignacio Antonio Parra Otarola, 31, Eduardo Andres Morajora and Jeremy Javier Ramirez Munoz, both 22, plus Fabian Cristobal Jerez Abarca, 19, all pleaded not guilty to several felony charges. Those charges include conspiracy to commit a crime, first degree burglary, attempted first degree burglary, evading officer with reckless driver and resisting executive officer.
The prosecutor said on Dec. 23, the four rented a car from LAX and drove to the Rancho Santa Fe/4S Ranch neighborhood.
Prosecutor said the four broke into one home through the rear master bedroom and ransacked the closet and bathroom. Prosecutor said officers would later find a stolen purse in the getaway car.
The deputy district attorney said then three of them attempted to break into the home next door, and the owners were not home at the time. However, the owners got alerted to the crime through their home surveillance cameras. In court, the prosecutor said the home owners notified someone who interrupted the crime. The prosecutor said the three suspects then ran away, but sheriff’s helicopters spotted them.
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When deputies approached the area, the three kept running and the fourth defendant picked them up in the getaway car, according to the prosecutor.
The defendant then crashed into a gate at a private community, ran away again before officers arrested them, according to the prosecutor.
The prosecutor told the court one of the deputies sustained a fractured wrist.
The prosecutor argued the four defendants are from Chile, and two have lied about their names.
The prosecutor said the four of them have no ties to San Diego County, with all of them being in the country at varying lengths from three days to two years.
Prosecutor said two of the defendants have criminal histories. Morajara is wanted by at least two other jurisdictions for residential burglary. Otarola has a recent felony conviction for first degree burglary in Maryland from May 2023.
Lastly, the prosecutor told the court, that it is unclear at this point if the defendants are part of what police are investigating as the “South American Theft Group.” However, the prosecutor said the defendants committed the crimes in similar fashion, entering the bedroom of high end homes and stealing property.
The judge denied bail for all of the defendants.
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