A burglary at one of the hobby’s top sports card shops ended with a police chasing a stolen vehicle on a Los Angeles freeway and the arrest of four men.
Police responded to a neighbor’s call about a potential burglary at Burbank Sports Cards on West Burbank Blvd about 1:30 AM Thursday. They say that resident’s call about an alarm and banging noises in the back of the store helped put four suspects behind bars.
The caller reported seeing a blue truck driving away from the location at a high rate of speed. Officers confirmed the burglary and then spotted a similar truck in the area. They attempted to stop the driver but he kept going north on Interstate 5.
Police say the driver exited the freeway at Sunland Boulevard in Los Angeles and stopped in the 8400 block of Wheatland Boulevard. Six occupants ran from the vehicle with officers giving chase. They apprehended four of the six suspects and discovered items that were believed to have been stolen from Burbank Sportscards inside the vehicle.
The suspects have been identified as 30-year-old Tony Pineda of Huntington Park, 26-year-old Francisco Mena, of Los Angeles, 20-year-old Diego Erazo, of Tujunga, and 19-year-old Henry Flores, of Tujunga. All four were arrested and booked for burglary, a felony, amongst other charges, and are due to appear in court on Monday, March 13.
Formal charges are pending review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Detectives are looking into the likelihood that those same men may have broken into Bullpen Burbank early in the morning of March 1. That shop lost more than $230,000 worth of money and merchandise including numerous high value sports card boxes.
Detectives conducted two probation searches at two homes related to the four men and say the located evidence linking the suspects to the burglary of Bullpen Burbank.
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