On November 3, North Hollywood LAPD officers arrested a suspect on the 12000 block of Collins St. in Valley Village, who was seen by a witness breaking into a vehicle on that block around 4:00 a.m. During the LAPD officers’ investigation, additional items in the suspect’s vehicle were found, including items from four recent auto burglaries in Burbank and two thefts in Valley Village. The suspect, Arturo Manuel Pinuelas of North Hollywood, was arrested and has been held in custody since November 3. He was due in court today, November 27, according to Officer Rosario Herrera, Public Information Officer for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Mr Pinuelas was released early from prison via the Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) early release program to ease overcrowding in the prison system. “PRCS early releases continue to be a huge problem,” admitted Sergeant Darin Ryburn of the Burbank Police Department, with many individuals continuing to commit crimes after their release.
Mr. Pinuelas has been connected to and will be charged with several auto burglaries including at least four thefts that happened within a few days and in the same part of Burbank. Several auto burglary reports were filed on October 29, October 31 and eleven alone on November 2, at locations all near each other, including the 1800 block of N. Screenland Dr., N. Pepper St., 2100 block of N. Evergreen St., 2100 block of N. Kenwood St. to name a few.
“Our investigators are working with LAPD investigators to determine exactly how many cases we can connect to this individual,” commented Sgt. Ryburn. “It is fortunate a witness saw this crime happening and reported it to police. We like to say ‘See Something, Say Something’ and encourage people to report crime to the police and be a witness.”
