Detective Warren's Dedication Leads To Arrest In Distraction Robbery Case - Pursued suspect purchased a one-way ticket to Romania and is now in custody.

Detective Warren's Dedication Leads To Arrest In Distraction Robbery Case - Pursued suspect purchased a one-way ticket to Romania and is now in custody.

On March 16, 2018, three individuals came into Byzantine Jewelry store on Pacific Avenue and began talking to the owner of the store. A male in the group, later identified as Roman Petre, was asking the owner various questions about merchandise and claimed he wanted to buy a gift for his wife. While the owner was engaged in talking to the initial group of customers, five more women came into the store and started to ask questions about merchandise.

** DISTRACTION SCAM - Diverting your attention with bogus questions and conversations is one of the oldest tricks in the book.

We call it a distraction scam when thieves working in organized pairs or a group create a distraction to steal from you. While you’re focused on another task or errand, they take advantage of your lack of attention to steal your valuables.**

The owner was getting an uneasy feeling and told the various members of each group he could only help one person at time. During this conversation, the owner noticed one of the females from the group was partially behind a display counter on the other side of the store. When he confronted her, the woman said she did not want to spend any money because he yelled at her and she was not feeling good. Both groups walked out together and left the area on Pacific Avenue.

Sensing something was off, the owner reviewed his security camera and saw one of the females in the group had crawled behind the counter to the back room where a safe was. The owner determined that over $20,000 in gold coins and silver bars were taken. After a full store inventory check, a total of $79,496 worth of various items including precious stones and jewelry was stolen.

 

Roman Petre Arrest In Distraction Robbery Case

Assigned to the case, SCPD Detective Brain Warren was determined to identify and track down the culprits. Thanks to Detective Warren's dedicated efforts, one suspect, Roman Petre 28 years old from Anaheim, was identified, tracked down and arrested in Orange County, Ca.

Recently, Detective Warren received information that Mr. Petre had purchased a one-way ticket to Romania departing Friday 8/24/18.

SCPD, in cooperation with the LAPD and a bail bond agency, detained Mr. Petre at the airport. Mr. Petre was transported back to the County of Santa Cruz and booked into jail. His bail is set at 1 million dollars.

Great Detective work and investigation follow up! Well done Detective Warren!

#SantaCruzPolice is dedicated to our community with ongoing efforts to keep Santa Cruz a safe place to live, work and raise a family. #SafetyThroughVigilance