More than $800,000 in stolen clothing, perfumes and laundry detergent and $112,339 in cash were seized by California Highway Patrol investigators last week from a Chino house and an apartment in Chino Hills that were being used as hubs for storing merchandise stolen from across the country.
Leticia Bivens, 48, of Chino; Felipe Andres Dominguez, 36, of Ontario; and Wilbert Leonin Barahona Martinez, 34, of Chino Hills were booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion of burglary, retail theft with intent to sell the merchandise, grand theft, receiving known stolen property and conspiracy, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Border Division’s Organized Retail Crime Taskforce in San Diego.
The three suspects were released the next day after posting bail, San Bernardino County jail records show.
“Investigators learned a nationwide hub for stolen merchandise was located in an upscale Chino neighborhood,” the news released stated. “Ms. Bivens headed a sophisticated network of individuals who regularly stole merchandise up and down the state. There were documented instances of thieves in Ms. Biven’s organization committing thefts on the east coast and shipping the stolen goods back to California.”
The stolen items were being sold at multiple booths set up at the Maclin Open Air Market at 7407 Riverside Drive in Ontario and the Bel-Air Swap Meet at 17565 Valley Blvd. in Bloomington, investigators said.
Investigators seized the items and cash at a home in the 6800 block of Weeping Willow Court, located south of Edison Avenue between San Antonio and Fern avenues, and an apartment at The Crossings of Chino Hills at 15101 Fairfield Ranch Road, south of Chino Hills Parkway and east of Monte Vista Avenue… Champion Newspapers