Four men have been arrested for committing an early morning burglary of a sports card store.
The incident occurred this morning at about 1:30 a.m., when Burbank Police responded to Burbank Sportscards, located at 1610 West Burbank Boulevard, regarding a commercial burglary in progress. An alert resident called to report the business’ burglary alarm could be heard along with banging noises at the back of the business. The resident reported seeing a blue truck driving away from the location at a high rate of speed.
Officers quickly responded, confirmed the business had been broken into, and located a blue truck traveling east on Burbank Boulevard at Front Street. Police officers attempted to stop the driver, but he failed to yield and continued north on Interstate 5.
The driver exited the freeway at Sunland Boulevard in Los Angeles and stopped his vehicle in the 8400 block of Wheatland Boulevard. Six occupants ran from the vehicle and a short foot pursuit ensued. The police officers were able to apprehend four of the six suspects and learned the vehicle was reported stolen. A significant amount of property stolen from Burbank Sportscards was found within the vehicle and in the suspect’s possession.
The suspects have been identified as 30-year-old Tony Pineda, a resident of Huntington Park, 26-year-old Francisco Mena, a resident of Los Angeles, 20-year-old Diego Erazo, a resident of Tujunga, and 19-year-old Henry Flores, a resident of Tujunga. All four were arrested and booked for burglary, a felony, amongst other charges, and are due to appear in court on March 13, 2023.
Formal charges are pending review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Detectives are looking into the likelihood that these same suspects are responsible for an additional burglary of a sports card store in Burbank. That incident occurred on March 1, 2023, at about 1:30 a.m., when Burbank Police responded to Bullpen Burbank, located at 920 Hollywood Way, regarding a business burglary alarm. When police officers arrived, they found the business had been burglarized and the owner reported the loss to be more than $230,000 in US currency and merchandise. Detectives conducted two probation searches at two homes related to the four men arrested this morning and located evidence linking the suspects to the burglary of Bullpen Burbank.
