5 In Tourist Theft Ring Arrested, Tried To Rob Brookville Home: Police

BROOKVILLE, NY — Five people were arrested and charged with burglary after they attempted to break into a home on Horse Hill Road in Brookville on Wednesday evening, Nassau police say.

The four men and one woman are all from Hempstead, police say, and connected to one address.

The five parked a car in the LIU Post campus around 6:30 p.m., and police noticed a Florida registration. Police say they then watched four of the group walk through the woods to get to Horse Hill Road.

After a loud alarm sounded, police say they watched them return to the car, where one suspect had remained, and flee in the car.

The police determined they had attempted to break into a home by breaking a rear door's glass.

Nassau police describe the five as being part of a "South American theft group," which are groups of people who come to the U.S. on tourist visas with the intent to commit crimes, the LA Times reported.

Cases involving so-called South American theft groups have been reported in California, and in New York. Many of the California cases involved invasions of homes that backed up to parks or green areas, where the burglars could scope out the property, the Ventura County district attorney told the LA Times.

The five charged with attempted burglary in the second degree, a felony, were: Francisco Maturana, 36, Lidia Gil-Andreu, 30, Lautaro De La O Achiardi, 32, Rodrigo Hermosilla Lizama, 37, and Felipe Hermosilla Lizama, 35.