TEMECULA: Three plead, five have charges dropped in huge shoplifting case

Prosecutors say Riverside County has no jurisdiction over those who have counts dismissed

By JOHN HALL - Staff Writer | Thursday, July 24, 2008 5:12 PM PDT ∞

FRENCH VALLEY ---- Three women pleaded guilty to burglary while five other defendants had their charges dismissed Thursday in a case Temecula police have said involved "an extremely sophisticated" crew of shoplifters.

When police announced the arrests and "dismantling" of the group in April at The Promenade mall in Temecula, authorities said the alleged shoplifting crew was likely stealing merchandise valued at about $60,000 a week from stores in several Southern California counties.

Merchandise valued at about $14,000 was reportedly taken from stores at The Promenade, authorities said.

Prosecutors originally charged the four men and four women with 15 felonies, mostly for burglary.

But at Thursday's court appearance at Southwest Justice Center in French Valley, charges were dismissed for all but three women. And 12 of the 15 counts against those three women were also dismissed.

Deputy District Attorney Blaine Hopp said a decision to dismiss those counts, and all 15 counts for the remaining five defendants, was made within the district attorney's office earlier this week.

That decision, he said, came down to a jurisdictional issue.

Prosecutors found that they were unable to connect all the reportedly stolen merchandise in the dismissed counts to Riverside County.

"At the time we filed the charges, we believed we could make that connection," Hopp said.

Much of what was allegedly stolen by the group was reportedly taken in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, Hopp said.

But just because numerous counts were dismissed doesn't mean any of the eight are necessarily off the hook for those alleged crimes.

"By dismissing (the way it was done Thursday), it doesn't count as a dismissal in those other counties," Hopp said. "This does not prevent other counties involved from filing similar or other charges against these defendants."

Temecula police have been notified by prosecutors to contact authorities in those other counties for the possible filing of criminal charges, he said.

In court Thursday, Carolyn Margaret Arnold, 21; Geneva Anne Collins, 24; and Tabitha Ann Edwards, 25, entered into agreements with the prosecution, and each pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree burglary.

In exchange for the guilty pleas, each of the women faces a sentence ranging from probation to a year in county jail when they return to court next month.

The original 15 counts against all eight people carried a potential maximum sentence of about 11 years in state prison, Hopp said.

All counts were dismissed against Maria Jessica Denis, 49, and her 55-year-old husband, Rene Leonides Denis; Justin McRoberts, 23; Jose Benjamin Perez, 47; and Aaron Thomas Pryor, 22.

The eight arrests came after Temecula police officers conducted a week of undercover surveillance, watching thefts from stores throughout Southern California. The allegedly stolen merchandise was taken to a home in Downey belonging to the Denises, whom police called the "buyers" within the group.

The stolen merchandise would then be sold to the public, police said.

The Denises would make known to Perez what specific items were needed, buy merchandise from Perez at a substantially discounted price and then resell it, police said.

Perez would go into stores with members of a five-person shoplifting team and either point out what was needed or sometimes help them steal the previously requested items, according to detectives.

Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.