Police Nab South Bay Apple Store Heist Suspects; 9 of 10 Now in Custody

SOUTH BAY, CA -- Detectives have identified six additional suspects in the dramatic overnight burglary of the Apple Store in downtown Palo Alto from December, where a team of burglars drove a rented SUV through the glass storefront. Nine of the 10 identified suspects have now been taken into custody, and police hold an arrest warrant for the tenth.

On Sunday, December 4, 2016, at about 4:38 a.m., Palo Alto Police's 24-hour dispatch center received a call reporting that a vehicle had crashed into the front of the Apple Store at 340 University Avenue, and that witnesses had seen multiple suspects running from the area. Officers responded immediately and found the suspect vehicle (a gray 2016 Kia Soul) on the sidewalk in front of the store with major damage. A 40-foot tall panel of the glass storefront had been shattered but was still hanging in place, though the vehicle had punched a small hole in the bottom of the glass panel. Video surveillance showed that eight to ten suspects had crawled into the store through the hole in the glass and stole a large number of items. Police are not releasing the video surveillance footage.

During a search of the surrounding area immediately after the crime, officers located four individuals and detained them for investigation without incident. Detectives later placed the four suspects under arrest for burglary, vandalism, and conspiracy. On December 4, police released information on those four suspects, who were originally described as two adults and two juveniles. As it turns out, one of those initially identified as a 17-year-old juvenile was determined the following day to be an adult who had lied to police about his identity.

Accordingly, police promptly transferred 18-year-old Armonie Pugh of Oakland from Juvenile Hall to the Santa Clara County Main Jail.

Over the course of the next three weeks, detectives conducted follow-up investigation into this incident, and ultimately were able to successfully identify an additional six suspects -- three adults and three juveniles. For the adult suspects, detectives obtained arrest warrants for each of them for burglary, vandalism, and participation in a street gang while committing a felony. For the juvenile suspects, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office is charging each of them with the same crimes as the adults.

- Lonnell Turner, 20, of Oakland, was arrested by the Oakland Police Department on December 29, 2016, pursuant to the PAPD's outstanding warrant, and booked in the Santa Clara County Main Jail.

- Robert Carter, 20, of Oakland, was arrested separately by the Oakland Police Department on December 29, 2016, pursuant to the Palo Alto Police's outstanding warrant, and booked into the Alameda County jail.

- Reginald Ayala, 19, of Oakland, has not yet been arrested and is currently wanted on our outstanding $500,000 felony warrant as a result of this case. No photo of him is available. Detectives are working in conjunction with neighboring agencies to locate him and take him into custody.

- A 17-year-old juvenile male and a 17-year-old juvenile female (both from Oakland) were separately arrested on unrelated charges by other law enforcement agencies in late December, and were subsequently charged in this case while they were in custody. The male remains in custody at Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall, and the female has since been released to her parents.

- A 17-year-old juvenile male from Oakland was arrested by the Newport Beach Police Department for this case on February 22, and transferred to Alameda County Juvenile Hall to face unrelated charges. He remains in custody there.

The booking photos of the adults can be seen above, but in accordance with PAPD standard release of information procedures, no additional information on the juvenile suspects is available since they're under the age of 18. The PAPD does not release booking photographs of juveniles in such situations.

Police say charges against one or two additional suspects are likely forthcoming as a result of this case. Detectives believe all of the suspects in this case are members of a criminal street gang based in Oakland; police are choosing not to identify that gang publicly so as to avoid bringing unnecessary recognition to it.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the 24-hour PVPD dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through a free mobile app, downloadable at www.bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or www.bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.

Images via Palo Alto police