OMEN
12-16-2007, 07:58 PM
MISSION — ‘Twas weeks before Christmas, and all through the town, neighbors were complaining of lawn decorations stolen and ripped down.
So undercover officers set up a sting — they wanted to stop the Christmas theft ring.
Eventually their efforts, three suspects did snag. They arrested one woman and two dudes in drag.
About 4:30 a.m. Friday, Mission police officers pulled over an off-white Mitsubishi with a trunk full of Christmas decorations. The three occupants of the vehicle told police they had stolen the property, said Lt. Martin Garza, a spokesman for Mission police.
Officers arrested Sabrina Marie Ochoa, 18, Andres Guaracha, 17, and Ismael Garcia, 19, all of Palmview. The trio remained in police custody late Friday and are expected to be arraigned today on six counts of misdemeanor theft, Garza said.
In Guaracha’s mug shot, he wears a black strapless top, a blonde wig and makeup, including eyeliner, blush and lipstick. Garcia, also wearing makeup, is dressed less revealingly in a sweatshirt and sports a wig with jet-black locks flowing down to the middle of his back. The trio told police they started stealing the decorations after a night at a club, Garza said.
Clad in high heels, the two men sneaked across lawns, taking inflatable snow globes, lighted wire reindeer and Santa Claus statuettes. A resident near the intersection of 3 Mile Line and Inspiration Road eventually called police to report suspicious noises, and officers made the traffic stop as a result.
The suspects cooperated with police and confessed to stealing 12 decorations, ranging in price from $25 to $200 each. The decorations remain in the Mission police evidence room, waiting for residents to claim them.
The group told investigators they planned to sell the loot. Last year, a man stole Christmas decorations from Mission front lawns, and police arrested him after spotting the evidence displayed on his driveway, roof and yard, Garza said. Investigators also found stolen holiday decorations at local flea markets last Christmas season.
This year, Mission police noticed a wave of decoration thefts during the week after Thanksgiving. To combat the thievery they set up a sting, complete with a decoy house and constant surveillance. That effort netted no arrests, but Garza said the attention may have caused the resident to call Friday.
Amid the Christmas season lawn plundering and covert operations aimed at stopping it, some Mission residents say they won’t be deterred from decking their homes for the holidays.
Ramses Salinas said he works with his neighbors on West 42nd Street to make the neighborhood shine with Christmas cheer each year. They live nearby where Friday’s thefts and arrests occurred.
“I haven’t seen any of them stealing around here,” Salinas said, with a deflated Santa and a collection of Christmas lights hanging from his house.
Even if he did see yuletide thieves, he would still spend $200 to decorate his house for his 8-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, he said.
No number of cross-dressing Christmas killjoys will change that.
The Herald
So undercover officers set up a sting — they wanted to stop the Christmas theft ring.
Eventually their efforts, three suspects did snag. They arrested one woman and two dudes in drag.
About 4:30 a.m. Friday, Mission police officers pulled over an off-white Mitsubishi with a trunk full of Christmas decorations. The three occupants of the vehicle told police they had stolen the property, said Lt. Martin Garza, a spokesman for Mission police.
Officers arrested Sabrina Marie Ochoa, 18, Andres Guaracha, 17, and Ismael Garcia, 19, all of Palmview. The trio remained in police custody late Friday and are expected to be arraigned today on six counts of misdemeanor theft, Garza said.
In Guaracha’s mug shot, he wears a black strapless top, a blonde wig and makeup, including eyeliner, blush and lipstick. Garcia, also wearing makeup, is dressed less revealingly in a sweatshirt and sports a wig with jet-black locks flowing down to the middle of his back. The trio told police they started stealing the decorations after a night at a club, Garza said.
Clad in high heels, the two men sneaked across lawns, taking inflatable snow globes, lighted wire reindeer and Santa Claus statuettes. A resident near the intersection of 3 Mile Line and Inspiration Road eventually called police to report suspicious noises, and officers made the traffic stop as a result.
The suspects cooperated with police and confessed to stealing 12 decorations, ranging in price from $25 to $200 each. The decorations remain in the Mission police evidence room, waiting for residents to claim them.
The group told investigators they planned to sell the loot. Last year, a man stole Christmas decorations from Mission front lawns, and police arrested him after spotting the evidence displayed on his driveway, roof and yard, Garza said. Investigators also found stolen holiday decorations at local flea markets last Christmas season.
This year, Mission police noticed a wave of decoration thefts during the week after Thanksgiving. To combat the thievery they set up a sting, complete with a decoy house and constant surveillance. That effort netted no arrests, but Garza said the attention may have caused the resident to call Friday.
Amid the Christmas season lawn plundering and covert operations aimed at stopping it, some Mission residents say they won’t be deterred from decking their homes for the holidays.
Ramses Salinas said he works with his neighbors on West 42nd Street to make the neighborhood shine with Christmas cheer each year. They live nearby where Friday’s thefts and arrests occurred.
“I haven’t seen any of them stealing around here,” Salinas said, with a deflated Santa and a collection of Christmas lights hanging from his house.
Even if he did see yuletide thieves, he would still spend $200 to decorate his house for his 8-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, he said.
No number of cross-dressing Christmas killjoys will change that.
The Herald