LONG BEACH - New technology and good old-fashioned police work has cracked a five-year crime ring that stole hundreds of Southland Jeeps, police said Friday.
Long Beach Police Department Auto Theft Detective Joe Starbird, assigned to a regional task force that combines auto theft investigators from various agencies, was first to link more than 350 local cases of stolen Jeep Rubicons.
They were usually stripped to the frame and dumped in North Long Beach or Compton, Officer Israel Ramirez said Friday.
Many of the victims were college students, but there were also several police officers and firefighters targeted. The Jeeps were usually taken from large parking lots at schools, malls and businesses, including the Boeing C-17 plant in Long Beach, Ramirez said.
While Starbird used technology and his expertise to link the cases and profile a suspect, it was LBPD Patrol Officer Kevin Ong who gave detectives their first big break with the arrest of the alleged ringleader, identified as Robert Allen Kidwell, 54, of Compton.
Kidwell was arrested late on July 18 after a victim called 911 to report their Jeep Rubicon was being stolen from the parking lot at Shoreline Village, Ramirez said.
Ong heard the call and, figuring the suspect would flee the city, immediately headed to the mouth of Long Beach (710) Freeway, Ramirez said.
"That's just good old-fashioned police work, putting yourself in the suspect's mind and
thinking ahead," Ramirez said. Ong's hunch proved correct as the stolen Jeep whizzed by and the officer pursued, stopping Kidwell and booking him on a charge of grand theft auto.
However, the officer's report wasn't even filed by the time Kidwell posted bond that same day, Ramirez said.
"Starbird got the report the next day, but Kidwell had bonded out that afternoon," Ramirez said. "Still, the detectives now had a suspect a name to follow," Ramirez said.
The booking information matched the description given by many victims - a black male in his mid-50s with graying or salt-and-pepper hair driving a dark Ford Ranger.
The LBPD's Night Auto Theft team set up surveillance at Kidwell's Compton home, where they saw him return late Thursday with a newly stolen Jeep.
After arresting Kidwell, detectives found more stolen vehicles, including chopped up Jeeps stripped of doors, hardtops, spare tires, engines, chassis and frames.
Kidwell's arrest also implicated two other men: Tyrone Wallace, 49, of Compton and Jeffrey Keith Foreman, 47, of Los Angeles.
All three were in custody by early Friday and investigators were still serving warrants and searching for evidence Friday afternoon, Ramirez said.
The men were booked on a charge of conspiracy, running a chop shop and numerous counts of grand theft auto. They are scheduled to be arraigned at the Long Beach Superior Court Tuesday afternoon.
At least two are on probation or parole, the officer said.
Wallace's bail was listed at $50,000 Friday while Foreman and Kidwell were being held without bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Inmate Information Center.
The total number of felony counts that could be filed against the trio was not known Friday, Ramirez said.
While the men are suspected in more than 350 cases for the Long Beach Police Department, local investigators know of many more cases from cities in the South Bay, Los Angeles County and Orange County, Ramirez said.
"Our guys are talking to other agencies, so we expect the number of cases to be cleared will grow substantially," Ramirez said. "At some point, though, I think the DA has a cutoff for the number of counts they file."
Detectives suspect more victims may be out there, Ramirez added.
Anyone who has had a Jeep Rubicon, or any Jeep model, stolen, or anyone who has witnessed an auto theft with the above suspect description is asked to call Starbird at 562-570-7362.
[email protected], 562-499-1261.
