2 homeless men arrested amid string of California mortuary burglaries
02/11/2021 9:35 am PST
HAWTHORNE, Calif. (TCD) --
Two homeless men in Southern California were arrested on suspicion of burglary at a mortuary Tuesday. At least three area mortuaries were burglarized over the last week.
Edwin Jimenez, 26, and 39-year-old Elias Dominguez were taken into custody Tuesday, Jan. 9, Hawthorne Police said.
KTLA-TV reports mortuaries in the city of Hawthorne, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, were burglarized on Saturday and Tuesday.
The first burglary was reported at McKay’s South Bay Mortuary on Marine Avenue about 2 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 6.
Surveillance footage shows three suspects inside the mortuary, including one holding a suitcase. The McKay's South Bay Mortuary owner told KTLA some stolen items included gold Buddhist artifacts.
On Tuesday, Feb. 9, officers responded to a burglary call at 2:45 a.m. on the 13800 block of Hawthorne Blvd., less than two miles away from the first location, but suspects had fled by the time officers arrived.
At 3:15 a.m. Tuesday, Hawthorne Police officers checked a third mortuary on the 4200 block of Broadway Ave. on "a hunch," KNBC-TV reports, and saw two men with flashlights inside. Jimenez and Dominguez were arrested at the scene.
Police said both men are transient.
"Detectives said they’re still gathering evidence to tie all three break-ins to the same two suspects. They're also looking for a third suspected burglar," KNBC reports.
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