The Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) gave a presentation on South American theft groups at a Health and Safety Commission meeting on Sept. 23. By educating the community about what to look out for and what measures they can take to prevent burglaries on their properties, BHPD hopes to crack down on the recent rise in theft.
In August, two South American nationals were charged in a federal court for stealing a $1 million watch off the wrist of a man at the BLVD restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel. They were identified as “crime tourists” from Colombia and Venezuela. These theft groups come from several nations in South America and have stumped police officers across the United States because of their transitional nature, as BHPD Sergeant David Dimond explained. In Southern California, most of the groups come from Chile, Colombia and Venezuela. These groups typically consist of three to five individuals at a time and appear loosely organized, which makes it difficult for police to track them. They use cold plates from local car dealers who work with them, so they’re impossible to track by vehicle, and once the police get close to catching them, they flee to another county or state. There are no identifiable characteristics of these groups such as clothing or tattoos, but BHPD has gathered some common things to look out for.
