2:50pm | On Sunday, December 25, 2011, officers from the Long Beach Police Department and the Board of Education (BOE) responded to two burglaries at schools that resulted in the arrests of six individuals.
At approximately 11:15am, LBPD officers were called to Garfield Elementary School to assist BOE officers with two male suspects that had entered the building and removed property.
Officers detained one suspect who had just exited the school with the loss on his person. Officers then set up a perimeter and spotted a second suspect exiting the building, took him into custody and located the loss in the his backpack nearby. The loss included electronics and other items of school property.
The men were arrested for commercial burglary and have been identified as 19-year-old William Minor of Long Beach, and 18-year-old Keyray Stinson of Los Angeles. Suspect Minor was also arrested for resisting arrest, and Suspect Stinson for providing a false identity to a peace officer.
Shortly after the suspects were taken into custody, LBPD officers were called out to Hughes Middle School at 1:57 p.m. to assist BOE officers with another incident where suspects entered a closed school building, which resulted in four additional arrests.
Officers located the four male suspects and all were arrested for commercial burglary. The suspects have been identified as 20-year-old Christopher Rebolo of Signal Hill, 19-year-old Christian Alvarez of Long Beach, and a 16-year-old resident of Long Beach and 14-year-old resident of Signal Hill.
On Wednesday, December 28, 2011, the City Prosecutor filed a charge of commercial burglary on Suspects Minor and Stinson, with a charge of resisting arrest on Suspect Minor, and a charge of providing a false identity to a peace officer on Suspect Stinson. A charge of trespassing was filed on Suspect Rebolo and Suspect Alvarez, and the two juvenile suspects will have a separate court date in the near future where they may face charges as well.
Several schools have been burglarized in recent months and it is unknown at this time if these two incidents are related to any previous burglaries, but detectives are looking at all the cases for possible connections.
The Board of Education and the Long Beach Police Department regularly work together to provide unified enforcement of criminal activity on or near school property and to heighten the safety of school campuses whether schools are closed or in session.
Residents are also asked to also be vigilant in reporting any suspicious people or activity on or near school property immediately by calling 9-1-1. Anyone with information on these incidents or any other burglaries to schools is asked to contact the Long Beach Police Department Burglary Detail at (562) 570-7351. Anonymous tips can be submitted via e-mail or text by visiting www.tipsoft.com.