Over $50,000 worth of air conditioning units were stolen from new home construction sites across the region and resold, police said.
PERRIS, CA — Four men were recently charged in connection with a string of thefts across Southern California in which over $50,000 worth of air conditioning units were stolen from new home construction sites, according to police, who said the probe was led by investigators in southwest Riverside County.
Those facing charges include 41-year-old Pedro Perez Gomez and 43-year-old Jose Servin Perez, both of Santa Ana, along with Santiago Garcia, 51, of Riverside, and Armando Lopez, 58, of Garden Grove, police announced Tuesday.
The Robbery Burglary Suppression Team at the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office station in Perris began investigating the thefts in May and learned the thieves were taking the air conditioners to Van Nuys and selling them, according to authorities.
The team worked with Riverside and Los Angeles police as well as the sheriff’s departments in Orange and San Diego counties to develop leads, authorities said. Law enforcement served search warrants in the 7000 block of Woodley Avenue in Van Nuys and the 10000 block of Gramercy Place in Riverside, where they recovered the air conditioners, according to police.
Lopez was already in custody in Orange County for unrelated charges but will face additional charges of grand theft, conspiracy and vandalism, according to police, who said Garcia, Gomez and Perez were booked into jail in Riverside County on charges of grand theft, conspiracy and vandalism.
Anyone with information is asked to call Riverside County Deputy Sanchez at 951-776–1099 or 951-210–1000.
