Two illegal immigrants from Romania were charged with hate crimes after Southern California prosecutors accused the men of posing as federal immigration officers to threaten Hispanic robbery victims with deportation.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that Laurentiu Baceanu and Alexandru Vasile, both 19, had hate crime enhancements tacked on to robbery charges in connection to 11 different victims.
Prosecutors said one of the suspects, who was not specifically identified, admitted in the police report that they “targeted Hispanic males because they have cash, they are not smart, they do not fight and they are scared due to their immigration status and would not call the police.”
Mr. Baceanu and Mr. Vasile, who prosecutors said may be affiliated with organized crime groups in Romania, are facing kidnapping, false imprisonment and robbery charges in Contra Costa County as well.
The district attorney’s office also said the suspects may have run their robbery scheme in Santa Clara County, and possibly as far as Washington state and New York.
“Criminals with ties to organized Romanian crime are continuing to prey on the most vulnerable of victims here in Orange County and across the nation while using the porous southern border as a direct pipeline to enter the United States with the sole purpose of committing crimes,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.
“The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security are painfully aware of the significant risk Romanian organized crime rings pose to the United States,” Mr. Spitzer continued, “but while President Biden is busy forgiving millions and millions in student loans, he continues to ignore the most basic function of government — protecting public safety.”
Prosecutors said the men dressed as either Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, police officers or FBI agents when holding up Hispanic victims over the past month.
On June 8, the suspects were accused of stealing $380 in cash and a Mexican ID card from a street vendor in Tustin. The attorney’s office said the victim was threatened with deportation if he didn’t comply with their demands.
Prosecutors said the suspects claimed to be federal agents when they carried out two separate robberies a week later — first stealing money from a father and son in Tustin, and then threatening a cyclist with deportation if he didn’t hand over his money.
The attorney’s office said the men claimed to be ICE agents during a June 17 robbery where they took cash from a man, as well as his debit card and PIN number.
A day later, a man reported that his cash was stolen and he had money transferred out of his bank account after two supposed ICE agents asked to see his phone. Prosecutors said the suspects took over $800 from a woman in a separate stick-up shortly afterward.
On June 20, authorities said the suspects approached three men in a Home Depot parking lot in Anaheim and demanded to see their immigration papers before stealing money from them. The Romanian defendants are also accused of threatening to deport another man if he didn’t hand over his money. They took more than $600 from the victim.
Police arrested the suspects last week in Anaheim.
Mr. Baceanu and Mr. Vasile are both being held without bond. They each face up to 29 years behind bars if convicted of all offenses.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Contra Costa County was in Southern California.
Most Popular
Comments / 0