Female suspect allegedly steals Buddhist statues from a temple she vandalized before

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD Detectives Request Assistance In Locating Suspect Wanted In Theft Of Buddhist Statues

On February 26, 2016, the Chua Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhist Temple located at 1924 West 2nd street had two of its Buddhist statues stolen from their property. Surveillance video recorded a female removing two statues (each about 2 feet tall) from a shrine adjacent to the sidewalk in front of the temple. The same female suspect returned to the temple on March 6th, 2016 and stole a third statue. Each statue is valued at $1,000.

After viewing surveillance video, the victim recognized the suspect as the same suspect that was arrested in 2015 for vandalizing another temple. The victim remembered the media coverage from the previous incident and searched the Internet for the story.

The victim found a booking photo of Trang Thu Pham, age 46,who was arrested on January 13, 2015, and identified her as the suspect in this case. Trang Thu Pham was convicted of Vandalizing a Place of Worship and sentenced to 268 days in jail and was placed on 5 years formal probation. Pham never reported to the probation department and she currently has a no bail warrant for a probation violation.

Detectives have not been able to locate Pham and are asking for the public’s help in locating her. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Alfredo Castro at 714-245-8345 or Orange County Crime Stoppers 1-855-TIPS-OCCS.