Images pulled from surveillance video of men believed to have stolen safes containing thousands of dollars from a church and four other locations were released by the Santa Ana Police Department Tuesday.
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The most recent heist was May 1, when three burglars broke into Forty Martyrs Armenian Church, 5315 W. McFadden Ave., around 4 a.m., and stole a safe containing about $13,000, according to Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, the department spokesman. Most of the money was proceeds from a bingo game held hours earlier.
One burglar, wearing a Chicago White Sox cap, tried to break a surveillance camera with a screwdriver, but he instead provided police with a clear, close-up image of
himself:
Santa Ana and Anaheim police are working together on the case because the same trio is suspected of pulling other safe heists in both cities dating back to January. Here is another look from the Forty Martyrs job:
And another:
According to Bertagna, the three were seen in a newer model gray four-door car. The burglar in the ball cap was described as white, thin, clean-shaven and age 30-35 with short brown hair. Another is believed to be age 40-45, bald with a mustache and a medium build. The third amigo was possibly Latino, age 35-40, thin and having a goatee.
Anyone with information is asked to call Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855.847.6227.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.