Investigator describes pair as ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ of retail theft
A recently voter-approved ballot measure, Proposition 36, is already making a difference in the charges that detectives can present to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, a Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station official said Tuesday.
The work from a pair of Robbery Unit detectives at the local station led to a pair of arrests and 10 charges filed last month for a series of thefts targeting retailers, according to court records.
One of the investigators likened the couple’s situation to a “Bonnie and Clyde” for local retail theft based on the criminal allegations and extensive record of run-ins with the law.
The suspects’ respective criminal records make both eligible for additional charges under the recent law changes voters approved in November, according to Detective David Ibanez, who was listed in courthouse records as an investigator in the case.
Proposition 36, which passed with just over 68% of the vote, allows felony charges for possessing certain drugs and for thefts under $950, if a defendant has two prior drug or theft convictions, according to language on the ballot summary.
Nathanial Rivas Jr., 44, and Maria De La Torre, 31, the two suspects named in court records, also have previous felony convictions, the detective confirmed.
“So, what (the DA’s Office) charged them with was, with the new Prop. 36, 666.1(a) in the California Penal Code,” Ibanez said, mentioning organized retail theft as another allegation.
Station officials considered the store thefts as an “Estes robbery,” when a burglary is elevated to the more serious charge because a suspect uses force or fear on someone to complete the theft. That and the suspected serial nature of the crimes are part of why the Robbery Unit became involved, Ibanez said Monday in a phone interview.
With cooperation from loss-prevention officers, Ibanez said, his partner, Detective Marinelli, whose first name was not immediately available, was able to track the same vehicle used in two separate incidents at the same Target on Golden Valley Road.
The detective wrote in a request for a search of their Canyon Country home on Soledad Canyon Road that detectives had tied it to the same Toyota SUV they say was used in the crimes. A judge approved the search in February.
During their search, deputies found methamphetamine, a semiautomatic “ghost gun” and ammunition, according to the return of their search warrant in courthouse records.
The items represented additional violations for the suspects due to their prior rap sheets, according to officials.
Both pleaded not guilty to their charges Feb. 19, which for Rivas included a second-degree robbery, possession of a weapon by a felon, possession of ammunition by a felon and as a result of recent legislation, an organized retail grand theft with an allegation it was committed after least one similar felony conviction, and four other allegations that the crimes were committed with one or more serious or violent felony convictions.
For De La Torre, the charges also included an assault with a deadly weapon charge and criminal threats.
Both are due at the San Fernando courthouse on Friday for a preliminary hearing on their charges. At a preliminary hearing, the evidence is presented, and a judge determines whether there’s enough to merit a trial.
Rivas was released on bond in February and De La Torre was released March 4, according to custody records available online at the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s website.
