140+ People Charged In Orange County Home Burglaries, Robberies In The Past Year: OCDA

IRVINE, CA — More than 140 people have been charged in connection with burglaries and robberies in Orange County in the last year, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced Wednesday.

Of those charged, 24 suspects are apparently part of five different burglary crews charged in the last two weeks alone, Spitzer said during the Wednesday news conference.

Seven newly-charged defendants are also facing additional hate crime enhancements for targeting Asian homeowners for financial gain, he said.

According to a news release issued by the District Attorney's office, many of the crimes filed over the past year have involved defendants with multiple strikes under California's Three Strikes Law, including defendants with five, six and nine prior strikes, and numerous other felony convictions including: multiple home invasion robberies, attempted murder and assault.

In the latest home invasion incident, one crew was believed to be tied to incidents across north Orange County after 12 people were charged in 13 home invasions and burglaries in Brea, Irvine, Yorba Linda and Orange, prosecutors said.

Seven of those 12 are currently facing hate crime charges and five are facing life sentences for kidnapping to commit robbery, according to the release.

The crew is believed to have ties to Riverside and Los Angeles counties, and is suspected in other crimes across the Southland, Spitzer said. The arrests, which started last week, were the product of a nine-month investigation led by the Brea Police Department.

According to prosecutors, one incident tied to the crew happened on May 31, 2022, when Darrell Hollowayne, of Hemet, broke into a Brea home and was rolling a heavy safe down the stairs when he was interrupted by the son of the homeowner, who called the police.

Hollowayne had five other suspects return to the home later that night with guns to break into the home and steal the safe, prosecutors said.

During the second invasion, a friend of the victim ran out of the house, but the victim was captured by the suspects and hit several times, authorities said. The defendants then threatened to kill the victim unless he opened the safe, which he could not do because his mother was out of town and he did not have the code, according to prosecutors.

The victim's friend returned to the home later that night, prosecutors said, where he was dragged back into the house and robbed.

Prosecutors said the defendants ultimately took the safe and later photographed themselves sitting on top of it.

The Brea incident is not the only instance of violent encounters in Orange County home robberies and burglaries, prosecutors said.

One of the crimes happened in Fountain Valley, when four masked men broke into a home, pistol whipped a man and punched his wife after forcing open a locked bedroom door and holding her at gunpoint, authorities said.

According to reports, the couple's two young kids were in the house at the time of the attack.

The suspects in that case were arrested after a high-speed chase in one of two vehicles they apparently stole from the home, according to investigators. Three of the four defendants charged in that case had served time in prison for previous home burglaries.

According to Spitzer, an "overwhelming majority" of the defendants live outside of Orange County, including as close as Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties and as far away as South America.

“These are carefully calculated and planned attacks on what should be our safe place – our homes. These crews are waiting, they are watching our every move, and when they think the timing is just right, they are smashing their way into our lives – and carrying out whatever cash, jewelry, and other expensive items they can find. And when they get it wrong – and someone is home – they do whatever it takes to terrorize their victims into telling them where the money is,” Spitzer said.

To address the onslaught of home invasion burglaries and robberies, commercial burglaries and smash-and-grab robberies, Spitzer introduced the HEIST — Home Invasion Eradication Interdiction Strike Team — a vertical prosecution unit designed to prosecuting such cases while working with law enforcement partners across SoCal to identify, arrest and prosecute burglary crews.

“We are seeing sophisticated burglary crews working to take as much property as possible in as little time as possible,” Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said. “Then, when our deputies catch them and take them to jail, they are released by the courts back into our community and often go right back to committing the same crimes. This is unacceptable. We know that one of the biggest deterrents to crime is an engaged community, and we are committed to partnering with you to keep our communities safe.”

Here is a rundown on cases filed by the Orange County District Attorney in just the last two weeks:

Beed et. all – Case #23NF0915, 23NF0917, 23NF0918 – Brea, Yorba Linda, Irvine and Orange

• Dmari Josiah Beed, 21, of Murrietta
  • 4 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 2 felony counts of first-degree robbery, 1 felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary, 1 misdemeanor crime of false imprisonment, and 5 felony hate crime enhancements

• Mahmoud Fathi Salah, 21, of Hemet
  • 3 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 2 felony counts of first-degree robbery, 1 felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary, 1 misdemeanor count of false imprisonment, and 4 felony hate crime enhancements

• Darrell Skakhan Hollawayne, 22, of Hemet
  • 12 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 4 felony counts of first-degree robbery, 1 felony count of kidnapping to commit robbery, 1 felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary, 1 misdemeanor count of false imprisonment, and 8 felony hate crime enhancements

• Kim Claudia Vuong Nguyen, 21, of Ontario
  • 4 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 2 felony counts of first-degree robbery, 1 felony count of kidnapping to commit robbery, and 1 felony count to commit burglary

• Hernando Jones, 19, of Hemet
  • 2 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 1 felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary, and 2 felony hate crime enhancements

• Menes Khari Carter, 20, of San Jacinto
  • 3 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 1 felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary, and 3 felony hate crime enhancements

• Justin Martel Huggins, 21, of Los Angeles
  • 2 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 1 felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary, and 2 felony hate crime enhancements

• Alyssa Ayala, 22, of Perris
  • 2 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary and 1 felony count of conspiracy to commit burglary

• Bryce Shamar Jackson, 21, of San Jacinto
  • 2 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary and 1 felony hate crime enhancement

• Frank Avila, 23, of San Jacinto
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary, 2 felony counts of first-degree robbery, and 1 felony count of kidnapping to commit robbery

• Christopher Williams, 21, of Hemet
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary, 2 felony counts of robbery, and 1 felony count of kidnapping to commit robbery

• Rico Mason, 23, of Perris
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary, 2 felony counts of robbery, and 1 felony count of kidnapping to commit robbery

Cooper et. all – Case #23NF1061 – Caught in the act of breaking into a Yorba Linda home

• Isaiah Lyle Cooper, 23, Compton
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary

• Troy Dwayne Hickman, 23, Los Angeles
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary

• Bryan Galvan, 21, Los Angeles
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary

• John Ive Williams, 20, Long Beach
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary

Newton et. all – Case #23NF1120 – Yorba Linda, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Mission Viejo

• Ohage Newton, 26, Compton
  • 4 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 1 felony count of attempted first-degree burglary of inhabited dwelling, 1 felony count of prohibited person owning ammunition, 1 felony count of manufacture, sale or receipt of large capacity magazine

• Dell Atrell Craft, 31, Compton
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary and 1 felony count of attempted first-degree burglary of inhabited dwelling

• Dominick Deshawn Martin, 30, Bellflower
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary

• Shawn Keith Castilow, 32, Compton
  • 1 felony count of first-degree residential burglary

Rendichhuentecol et. all – Case #23NF1053 – Caught breaking into Anaheim home

• Diego Rendichhuentecol, 29, Chile
  • 2 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 1 misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools, 1 misdemeanor count of resisting a public or peace officer, 1 misdemeanor count of falsely representing self to officer

• Miguel Fernando Marchantavila, 31, Chile
  • 2 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 1 misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools, 1 misdemeanor count of resisting a public or peace officer

• Manuel Rodrigo Venegasburgos, 31, Chile
  • 2 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 1 misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools, 1 misdemeanor count of resisting a public or peace officer

Belvin et. all – Case #23NF1054 – Crew connected to Norco convenience store robbery that resulted in defendant being shot by store owner

• Rasheed Dashawn Lee Belvin, 24, Los Angeles
  • 8 felony counts of first-degree robbery, 4 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 2 felony counts of carjacking, 14 felony enhancements for being armed with a firearm in the commission of a felony

• Jamar Elijah Williams, 26, Los Angeles
  • 4 felony counts of first-degree robbery, 2 felony counts of first-degree residential burglary, 2 felony counts of carjacking, 8 felony enhancements for being armed with a firearm in the commission of a felony

• Davon Broadus, 24, Las Vegas
  • 4 felony counts of first-degree robbery, 2 felony counts of first-degree burglary, 6 felony enhancements for being armed with a firearm in the commission of a felony