SMC — A pair of former Santa Monica College students plead guilty to a series of locker room robberies at the main campus, making off with over 130 stolen items that included iPods, books and other valuables, authorities announced Tuesday.
Juan A. Rodriguez and Gianny E. Galindo plead guilty to several counts of commercial burglary on Jan. 4 and were sentenced to three years each in state prison, said SMC investigator Russell Ruetz.
The Santa Monica College Police Department is looking for victims of the robberies in hopes of returning some of the stolen items. Officers will display the goods on Thursday at the main campus. So far, 21 victims have filed police reports. Those who believe they may have been victims but have not yet filed a police report can do so Thursday.
Ruetz said potential victims should bring a receipt if possible and provide a description of the items believed to be stolen. Officers will then use the reports to verify ownership.
“Once the reports have been completed we will look and see if the items match what we have,” Ruetz said.
Rodriguez and Galindo committed at least 35 locker room burglaries from November 2008 to October 2009, taking items from fellow classmates who left them unattended in the men’s locker room. The SMC Police Department conducted an extensive investigation that uncovered a well orchestrated operation.
Officers from SMC and the Santa Monica Police Department arrested Rodriguez and Galindo in October after the two attempted to use a stolen credit card at a local business. The credit card was taken in a locker room burglary. Officers from SMC obtained and executed search warrants, which led to the recovery of 134 items of evidence, linking the two to 21 of the locker burglary cases to date, police said.
Ruetz said the two have not been linked to a robbery that took place during a Santa Monica High School football game in which the visiting team was targeted. Samohi plays home games at SMC’s Corsair Field.
Those who believe they are a victim can contact SMC police at (310) 434-4300, reference case number 09-555.
