Authorities say over the years, an elaborate retail crime circle has plundered home warehouses throughout Southern California, cancelled more than 600 thefts and had no consequences at an estimated $10 million worth of goods – so far.
On Tuesday, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced 48 criminal lawsuits against nine so-called major players, who are what Home Depot calls the largest targeted theft circle in business history.
Prosecutors say the retail crime circle targets 71 home-owned warehouses in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and sometimes visits the same store multiple times a day.
David Ahl allegedly fenced through his Tarzana business Arya Wholesale, merchandise stolen from the Home Depot location was fenced.
(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office)
Authorities said several law enforcement agencies worked together to cancel theft crew members through the Kill Kill Switch, which arrested 14 people on August 14 and nine have been prosecuted since then.
Prosecutors said the crime business was led by David Ahl of Woodland Hills, who faced 45 felony crimes including conspiracy, organizing retail theft, theft, receiving stolen property and money laundering. If charged, he faces up to 32 years in prison.
AHL is accused of instructing theft crew to seize high-value items such as circuit breakers, dimmers, switches and outlets at home – and he will then resell them in a technology called fences at Tarzana’s electronic storefront.
“His burglar crew (called boosters) stole merchandise from Home Depot’s store and sometimes hit every Home Depot in Ventura County in one day,” Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said in a press conference Tuesday. “The boosters will then transport the stolen items into a garbage bag or a Home Depot box, or give them to his home where he pays in cash.”
Prosecutors said the crime circle was partly family matters.
AHL’s brother son, Omid Abrishamkar of Calabasas, was charged with selling stolen goods through eBay, facing 11 felony counts related to money laundering and reselling stolen property.
AHL’s ex-wife, Lorena Solis of Downey, is accused of running nearly the same fence business in the Los Angeles area through her partner, Enrique Neira Moreno. Each of them faces eight felony crimes.
Authorities said five prolific boosters in the field were also arrested and faced felony charges.
Prosecutors said that included Jose Banuelos Guerrero of South Gate, Edwin Rivera of Los Angeles and Eber Bonilla Lopez of Pomona, who were accused of working together every day, usually stealing $6,000 to $10,000 in merchandise at a time.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said it has seized at least $3.7 million in stolen home warehouses from the suspect’s accounts and seized more than $800,000 in suspected illegal currency.
(Ventura County District Attorney’s Office)
Surveillance camera lens released by the District Attorney’s Office shows Bonilla-Lopez filled the jacket pocket with electric circuit breakers from home warehouses and used a pole to slide a box filled with electrical components of the top shelf.
Pomona’s second alleged promotion crew consisting of Erlin Hernandez Lopez and Denny Gomez, charged with three counts of felony conspiracy to commit retail theft.
Home Depot estimates that the crew is collectively responsible for more than $10 million in stolen goods. Since its arrest on August 14, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has seized at least $3.7 million of the stolen Home Depot property from accounts belonging to AHL and Abrishamkar and seized more than $800,000 in suspicious currency.
In a press conference Tuesday, Fryhoff praised the Assembly for ratifying Jacqui Irwin (D Thousand Oaks) as the Authorization Act of 1779, which was signed into law last year and allows retail crimes in multiple counties to merge into a single criminal file.
“Without this law, we will prosecute common crimes of the same defendant in multiple jurisdictions, which is an expensive and time-consuming task,” he said. “However, thanks to this legislation, Ventura County consolidates warehouse theft in Los Angeles into 48 criminal proceedings.
Los Angeles County. Atti. Nathan Hochman also praised the bill and said combating retail crime was a top priority for his office.
“This is the beginning of an effort to hunt down these large crews,” he said. “They think they are so delicate that they can hide. The announcements to announce these allegations today are very different.”
