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TWO MORE PLEAD GUILTY IN CHURCH BURGLARIES
Orange County Register (California)
August 1, 2013 Thursday
by: Doug Irving Register writer, The Orange County Register
Two members of a break-in crew that targeted churches and other
religious centers pleaded guilty this week to burglary charges.
Robert Lee Dennis, 45, and Fernando Flores, 21, were sentenced to
a year in jail and ordered to pay restitution, Orange County court
records show. A third man, Daniel Ruben Cortes, pleaded guilty last
month and was sentenced to two years in jail. A fourth man charged
as a co-defendant, James Allen Dorscht, has pleaded not guilty.
The break-ins began around the first of the year, hitting four churches
in Santa Ana, half a dozen more in Anaheim, an Islamic center and
a Hindu temple in Irvine. The burglars pried open donation boxes or
stole safes, police said.
Investigators got a break May 1 when thieves hit Forty Martyrs Armenian
Church in Santa Ana. Surveillance video captured two men prying open
a door and removing a safe while a third man stood as a lookout. The
safe held $15,000, most of it proceeds from a bingo game, police said.
At one point, one of the men noticed the video camera and tried to
disable it with a screwdriver. Instead, it captured an image of the
man that police distributed to the public. Phoned-in tips led police
to Cortes, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
About a week later, Irvine investigators identified Dennis as a suspect
in the temple burglary, based on DNA evidence. He and Flores were
arrested at a Santa Ana commercial complex. Police said they found
burglary tools, a club and a shotgun in their vehicle, as well as a
credit card with Dorscht's name on it.
When another church was burglarized - this time, a Korean Catholic
church in Irvine, where a safe was dragged away - a partial fingerprint
led investigators to Dorscht, Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen said. He
was arrested in June; police said they found the stolen safe and cash
in an apartment he was using. His trial is set for September.
City News Service contributed to this report.
Orange County Register (California)
August 1, 2013 Thursday
by: Doug Irving Register writer, The Orange County Register
Two members of a break-in crew that targeted churches and other
religious centers pleaded guilty this week to burglary charges.
Robert Lee Dennis, 45, and Fernando Flores, 21, were sentenced to
a year in jail and ordered to pay restitution, Orange County court
records show. A third man, Daniel Ruben Cortes, pleaded guilty last
month and was sentenced to two years in jail. A fourth man charged
as a co-defendant, James Allen Dorscht, has pleaded not guilty.
The break-ins began around the first of the year, hitting four churches
in Santa Ana, half a dozen more in Anaheim, an Islamic center and
a Hindu temple in Irvine. The burglars pried open donation boxes or
stole safes, police said.
Investigators got a break May 1 when thieves hit Forty Martyrs Armenian
Church in Santa Ana. Surveillance video captured two men prying open
a door and removing a safe while a third man stood as a lookout. The
safe held $15,000, most of it proceeds from a bingo game, police said.
At one point, one of the men noticed the video camera and tried to
disable it with a screwdriver. Instead, it captured an image of the
man that police distributed to the public. Phoned-in tips led police
to Cortes, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
About a week later, Irvine investigators identified Dennis as a suspect
in the temple burglary, based on DNA evidence. He and Flores were
arrested at a Santa Ana commercial complex. Police said they found
burglary tools, a club and a shotgun in their vehicle, as well as a
credit card with Dorscht's name on it.
When another church was burglarized - this time, a Korean Catholic
church in Irvine, where a safe was dragged away - a partial fingerprint
led investigators to Dorscht, Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen said. He
was arrested in June; police said they found the stolen safe and cash
in an apartment he was using. His trial is set for September.
City News Service contributed to this report.