Ventura County law enforcement officials nab suspected members of South American theft rings

Staff Reports
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A still from a surveillance camera depicting two members of a South American Theft Group breaking into a Thousand Oaks home in December 2020.
A still from a surveillance camera depicting two members of a South American Theft Group breaking into a Thousand Oaks home in December 2020.

Three Chileans who allegedly stole goods from Nordstrom Rack in Thousand Oaks were arrested last week on the same day six Columbians faced felony charges in connection with a recent string of home burglaries in the city and in neighboring Camarillo.

Ventura County law enforcement officials tie both cases to "South American theft groups," a loose network of property crime rings originating primarily from Chile and occasionally Colombia.

A deeper dive: How 'South American Theft Groups' target Ventura County homes

The county District Attorney's Office prosecuted 21 suspected members of these groups last year and at least 19 so far this year, including the Columbians who were arraigned Thursday in Ventura County Superior Court.

The defendants, all in county jail entered pleas of not guilty to charges of first-degree residential burglary and conspiracy in connection to multiple residential burglaries in May, according to the DA's office. They are Laura Maria Gaona Espinosa, 25; Yesid Garzon Herrera, 34; Keven Andres Parra Nino, 24; Brayan Giraldo Taborda, 37; Johan Martin Rivera Zambrano, 36; and John Jaruvy Zambrano, 35.

Evidence cited in a DA news release Friday includes surveillance video from a Thousand Oaks home burglarized on May 26 showing one of the suspects knocking on the front door holding a DoorDash food delivery bag. Video from another Thousand Oaks home shows the same suspect impersonating a floral delivery person.

In Thursday's Nordstrom Rack theft, sheriff's deputies happened to be near the discount store on West Hillcrest Drive when they saw the suspects run out of the business as a theft alarm sounded, according to a sheriff's news release.

Deputies caught up with the getaway vehicle and arrested and booked into jail Maximo Gustavo Alfonso Bravo Velasques, 18; Francisco Javier Guzman Osorio, 29; and Roberto Ignacio Rojas Solis, 22. Deputies said they found an estimated $5,300 in Nordstrom merchandise and "burglary tools" in the vehicle and confirmed all three are Chilean nationals who entered the United States through a visa waiver program.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Suspected South American theft ring members in Ventura County jail