Two males have been arrested for allegedly impersonating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers to steal cash from Latino residents, in accordance with the Anaheim Police Division.
Legislation enforcement officers mentioned they responded to consecutive robberies on Thursday between 5 and 6 p.m. —the primary on the 900 block of South Euclid Avenue and the second on the intersection of Brookhurst Avenue and La Palma Avenue. A number of hours later, they recognized the suspects as Laurentiu Baceanu and Vasile Alexandru, 19, in accordance with a information launch.
Based on the victims’ testimony to police, the 2 males spoke Spanish, offered pretend badges and proceeded to coerce cash out of residents earlier than taking off in a blue SUV.
Anaheim police gave Baceanu’s age as 19, however Orange County jail data present that he’s 20.
Impersonating a federal agent is against the law that may carry as much as three years in jail and there’s a chance that they may face extra costs regionally. Neither man was armed, police mentioned. Each are booked with out bail and going through a number of counts of theft.
Final yr, A San Ysidro man was indicted by a Santa Ana grand jury for stealing $200,000 from undocumented immigrants who sought authorized assist with their immigration standing. In 2018, one other man was sentenced to eight months in jail after dressing up as an ICE official to extort a girl of $5,000 below the specter of deportation.
Anaheim police are working with native, state and federal businesses to as a part of the investigation, mentioned Sgt. Jon McClintock. The U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Santa Ana declined to touch upon the case. The Orange County District Lawyer’s workplace didn’t reply to a cellphone name or e mail request for remark.
Anaheim isn’t the one municipality coping with pretend ICE officers, McClintock mentioned. The division has been collaborating with different businesses throughout California, investigating related robberies which have been occurring “for a number of weeks all through the state,” he mentioned. “We imagine they’re linked.”
He mentioned he is aware of of at the least 5 equivalent thefts that occurred in Anaheim and extra throughout Orange County. The division is investigating whether or not different suspects or accomplices are concerned. Detectives say they suppose the automobiles concerned on this collection of robberies embrace a silver or grey Volkswagen Atlas SUV and a blue Audi Q7 SUV.
McClintock requested different victims to return ahead. The detective assigned to the case is John Carey, who may be reached at (714) 765-1973 or JCarey@anaheim.internet
He added that undocumented victims don’t must worry over their authorized immigration standing in the event that they report against the law, saying that their division doesn’t cooperate with federal ICE officers.
“We is not going to inquire about their [citizenship],” McClintock mentioned. “It could be pertinent, probably to some kind of crime if that’s associated, however the Anaheim Police Division is not going to implement any kind of immigration [law].”
