Woman arrested for multiple local commercial mall burglaries

News Release Newport Beach Police Department
Public Information Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PRESS RELEASE: 02/11/15

Subject: Woman Arrested for Multiple Commercial Burglaries

Contact : Jennifer Manzella, Press Information Officer, 949-644-3662, jmanzella@nbpd.org

Arrested: Thu Thao Thi Vu, Female Asian, 59-year-old resident of Huntsville, Alabama

On Friday, February 6, 2015 at 1:15 pm, the Newport Beach Police Department arrested Thu Thao Thi Vu for a number of Commercial Burglaries committed in the City. Ms. Vu has also been tied to numerous other Commercial Burglaries in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and San Bernardino Counties. This arrest was made possible through the strong relationships between the Police Department and the Loss Prevention teams from our local department stores.

Over the past several years, Ms. Vu has visited California on several occasions, for weeks at a time. While in California, she would target malls and shopping centers, using distraction techniques to steal jewelry from high-end department stores. During her current trip, Ms. Vu is believed to have frequented the following centers:

• Fashion Island
• The Galleria at Tyler
• Moreno Valley Mall
• Ontario Mills
• The Outlets at Orange
• Puente Hills Mall
• Santa Monica Place
• South Coast Plaza
• Stonewood Center
• Westfield Culver City
• Westfield MainPlace
• Westminster Mall

So far, Ms. Vu has been linked to ten separate burglaries since 2012 (three of which occurred in Newport Beach) with a combined known loss of over $47,600. Investigators believe that Ms. Vu is responsible for additional burglaries throughout the Southern California area. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Detective Jennifer Kresge at 949-644-3786 or jkresge@nbpd.org. Tips may also be left anonymously on the Newport Beach Police Department’s tip hotline at 1-800-550-NBPD.

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