LAPD Recovers Stolen Blue Jeans
The Los Angeles Police Department arrested two suspects involved in a dramatic denim burglary in which thieves drove a van through a storefront in the Los Angeles Fashion District and made off with about 4,000 pairs of jeans.
Fouad Reda was arrested and charged with commercial burglary while Hassan Mourad was charged with receiving stolen property, said LAPD Detective Michael Montoya. Other suspects may still be at large.
About 2,200 pairs of the 4,000 Levi 501 jeans stolen were recovered, but police were still searching for the remaining merchandise. The crime took place at 4 a.m. on Feb. 14 at the Levi/Dickies store at 1515 S. Santee St., which officially operates as Sejole Clothing.
Detectives said the suspects entered the store by breaking the lock on a metal rollaway door to the adjacent business, which was vacant. They then drove the van through the storefront and closed the rollaway door behind them so they wouldn’t be noticed, police said.
The suspects then entered the Sejole store by tearing a hole through the wall that separates the two businesses.
Police recovered a license plate on the street outside the store and determined that it was torn loose from the van during the getaway. The van was traced to a rental company and then to Reda, who was arrested at his home in Bell, Calif., a Los Angeles suburb.
An anonymous tip led police to another address in Bell, which police staked out. They arrested Mourad when they saw him driving off the property in a white van allegedly containing the stolen merchandise.
Store owner Awad Dughbaj said Reda is the son of one of his customers. He theorized that at least one other van was used in the burglary because only half the merchandise was recovered.
“They only recovered some of the sizes,” said Dughbaj, who estimated the value of the stolen merchandise to be around $130,000.
Montoya said the recovered merchandise will be returned to the owner with the exception of one pair for evidence.
“It’s funny,” Dughbaj said. “I’ve been here (in the Fashion District) for 30 years, but I only moved here 20 days ago.” —Robert McAllister
