Five Arrested After Reported Coordinated Thefts at South Coast Plaza

Five people were arrested on suspicion of burglary and conspiracy following an alleged coordinated theft at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Police worked with shopping center security and store loss prevention employees to locate the suspects, who investigators accused of stealing merchandise from Nordstrom and Macy’s.

According to the Costa Mesa Police Department, Nordstrom loss prevention staff alerted South Coast Plaza Security that three men and two women appeared to be acting together to steal and conceal items. Mall security then coordinated with officers responding to the report. Officers took positions at several store exits as they sought to intercept the group.

Two suspects tried to leave Nordstrom with a bag containing merchandise, police said. After seeing officers, they allegedly left the bag behind and walked away. The other three suspects reportedly ran out through the store’s west-side entrance and headed toward a nearby bridge. Officers detained those three near an elevator.

The two remaining suspects were later found and detained near the Corner Bakery at The Village in Santa Ana. Investigators determined that the five had traveled to the shopping center in two vehicles. Police said searches of those vehicles turned up merchandise allegedly stolen from both Nordstrom and Macy’s. All five were subsequently arrested.

Prosecutors had not announced formal charges at the time of the report. Any eventual penalties would depend on the offenses charged, the value of the merchandise and the suspects’ criminal histories. The arrests come amid broader enforcement efforts targeting organized retail theft in California, where authorities have used specialized task forces to investigate suspected theft groups.

Since 2019, the California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force has conducted more than 4,700 investigations statewide. Those efforts have resulted in more than 5,300 arrests and the recovery of stolen merchandise valued at more than $76 million.

Other recent investigations have involved retailers across Orange County. Irvine police arrested three suspects accused of taking more than $4,000 in goods from multiple stores. In another case, Irvine officers recovered more than $12,500 in merchandise linked to thefts in Irvine, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa. CHP investigators also arrested suspects connected to thefts across Southern California and recovered nearly $400,000 in stolen goods, while Brea police participated in a regional crackdown that produced seven arrests.