SAN DIEGO — Four Chilean nationals pled not guilty in court Thursday after investigators say they're responsible for a string of burglaries in the North County. Some of the men arrested also provided false names to San Diego Sheriff's Deputies who arrested them, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors also say the suspects may have been connected to a string of burglaries in San Diego's North County throughout the past few years.
The initial burglary
The burglary occurred about 7:42 p.m. Saturday when deputies were dispatched to a burglary call in the 6800 block of Poco Lago in the Rancho Santa Fe neighborhood, where three suspects were reported attempting to gain entry to a home.
Four people involved in a suspected residential burglary were arrested December 23 after fleeing the scene, resulting in a short high-speed chase and their apprehension when they crashed into a security gate of a private community, authorities said Sunday.
The arrest charges included felony evading, residential burglary, possession of stolen property and resisting.
Prosecutors say some of the men lied about who they were when they were arrested.
"Two of the defendants lied completely about their names and identities and it was only through an investigation that law enforcement was able to determine their possible names. And I'm not sure as I stand here right now, who these defendants truly are," the deputy district attorney said.
Investigators are looking into the suspects connection to other burglaries in San Diego County. The deputy district attorney said Thursday the case looks similar to crimes committed by a group law enforcement calls the South American Theft Group.
"The crimes committed by these defendants are similar to the crimes committed by this group of individuals committing crimes in the same high end area of San Diego County for the last several years," he said.
Court documents show two of the four have a criminal history here in the United States that also include residential burglary.
Prosecutors say a law enforcement officer suffered a fractured wrist when one of the suspects resisted arrest.
The four men will be back in court on January 9 and 11.
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