When a burglary crew cased a wealthy Pacific Palisades enclave off Sunset Boulevard last week, LAPD detectives were watching covertly. They weren’t going to let this crew get far. But the three men and teenage boy had already traveled quite far. They were in the U.S. as tourists from Chile.
Three of the “burglary tourists” were apprehended without incident. But the 17-year-old took off running, tossing his cellphone and even changing his clothing during a foot pursuit that had him dodging midafternoon traffic.
The trend of Chilean crime groups visiting Southern California for thefts and robberies emerged about five years ago. The thieves, authorities say, arrive on easily obtainable tourism visas. Police have dubbed the phenomenon “burglary tourism,” and it has spurred political outrage and questions over visa tourism from the South American nation.
Although it’s not uncommon for burglars to prey on tony pockets of Los Angeles, investigators say Chilean crews are behind hundreds of break-ins in Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties.
The three men and teenager arrested Feb. 29 are suspected of carrying out a rash of burglaries of homes across East Hollywood earlier in the month.
Inside the suspects’ vehicle, L.A. Police Department investigators said, they found various burglary tools and evidence tying the four to the burglaries on Feb. 17.
On Feb. 29, LAPD Officer Ismael Peinado tracked the suspects across Los Angeles, from the San Fernando Valley to West Los Angeles. In the area of Castellammare Drive and Sunset Boulevard, officers pounced.
That’s when investigators discovered the Chilean connection. Patricio Lian, 20; Carlos Antonio Gonzalez-Ravest, 20; Joaquin Elias Munoz, 19; and a 17-year-old juvenile arrived from Chile on tourist visas in the last few years, police said. The teenager’s parents, according to investigators, left him in the U.S. with an unidentified friend.
Lian is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center after the Los Angeles County district attorney filed a felony burglary and felony parole violation. He was described as unhoused and living in various L.A. hotels after allegedly overstaying his tourist visa from Chile by two years, according to authorities.
Gonzalez-Ravest was arrested on suspicion of burglary, and on outstanding felony warrants burglary and grand theft. Prosecutors declined to file the charge of conspiracy to commit burglary, but he is being held on two felony warrants. Like Lian, he has been living in L.A.-area hotels after overstaying his tourism visa, according to authorities.
Elias Munoz, also on a tourist visa, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary and posted $50,000 bail.
The teenager told investigators he arrived four months ago on a tourist visa. He was booked on conspiracy to commit burglary and turned over to the Department of Children and Family Services pending a filing decision by the district attorney.
But while in the care of family services, the teenager said he was going for a walk and never returned. He was reported missing in Lakewood and his whereabouts remain unknown, according to investigators.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
