'Organized Retail Theft' In Lake Elsinore, IE: Deputies Make 3 Arrests

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — A 19-year-old Brea woman and two juveniles were arrested when they returned to a retail store to allegedly steal merchandise for the second time in one day, authorities said Saturday.

Deputies were summoned at about 8 p.m. Thursday to a store in the Lake Elsinore area from which more than $2,000 in merchandise had been stolen earlier in the day, according to Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Jarrod Meissen.

A store employee told deputies that the same suspects were back and were seen concealing items, Meissen said.

Georgiana Velcu and two juveniles were detained, he said.

"During the investigation, deputies recovered over $10,000 in stolen merchandise from numerous retail stores within the County of Riverside," Meissen said. "It is believed the suspects were part of an organized retail theft ring operating in the Inland Empire."

Velcu was arrested, for suspicion of grand theft and organized retail theft, he said. With bail set at $1,000, she was released on Friday morning, according to sheriff's inmate records.

The juveniles were released to a parent or guardian with charges pending, Meissen said.