St. Helena Jewelry Store Burglary Tied To Chilean Crime Ring: PD

ST. HELENA, CA — Police in St. Helena said Tuesday they have tied the burglary of a local jewelry store to a Chilean group involved in similar crimes around the United States and Canada. During the hours of darkness July 7-8, Padis Jewelry Store, 1269 Main St. in St. Helena, was the target of "an elaborate and well-calculated burglary that resulted in a large amount of jewelry being stolen," according to St. Helena police Lt. Chris Hartley.

At about 3 a.m. July 8, a St. Helena police officer spoke with a woman he spotted on Money Way behind Padis Jewelry Store. The officer had his body camera activated and recorded the conversation, which provided St. Helena police with an unnamed suspect who was later identified as Massiel Mondaca, Hartley said.

Mondaca was ultimately arrested in New York state on suspicion of burglary and theft charges after St. Helena PD worked alongside the FBI and neighboring agencies to identify her using the body-camera footage as well as photos and contacts.

St. Helena PD has filed charges through the Napa County District Attorney’s Office against Mondaca, who remains in custody in New Jersey pending extradition to Napa County, Hartley said in a news release Tuesday.

"While being interrogated by an FBI agent per our request, Mondaca confessed to being the lookout for a group of Chilean males who broke into Padis Jewelry Store and stole numerous amounts of jewelry worth a significant amount of money," Hartley said.

Mondaca also provided the FBI agent with the names of the other three people involved in the St. Helena jewelry-store burglary.

"We are currently working with U.S. Immigration and the FBI to connect the other three individuals as participants in this crime through DNA recovered from the scene," Hartley said.