Thieves took computers, computers implicated thieves

Three suspects have been arrested following a five-month string of burglaries across the county where thieves targeted individuals who were attending a family member's funeral.

According to a report from El Cajon police lieutenant Frank La Haye, 12 incidents between January and May involved victims attending a funeral. In an investigation involving El Cajon and San Diego officers as well as county sheriff's deputies, authorities determined that the burglary ring was selecting targets from obituary postings.

Using the information contained therein, thieves identified relatives of the deceased and noted funeral times. Locating their residences via internet search, they were provided a window during which a robbery was highly likely to go undetected.

After identifying three suspects, named in La Haye's report as Herbert John Cruz, David Andrew Valenzuela, and Jennifer Lynn Alarcon, search warrants were executed on residences and storage lockers of the trio. Numerous items related to the burglaries were recovered, and internet history files from a seized computer linked the suspects to the crime spree.

All suspects face burglary charges, and authorities say an ongoing investigation could result in more arrests or additional charges for the three already in custody.