Long Beach trio accused of bringing children along during burglary in San Marino


SAN MARINO >> Two women and a man are facing burglary and child endangerment charges after they were caught in the middle of a San Marino burglary with four young “dirty and unfed” children in tow earlier this week, police said.
Police arrested the three suspects and placed the children, between 2 and 6 years old, in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services following the alleged break-in, which took place about 1 p.m. Monday in the 2100 block of Oak Knoll Avenue, according to San Marino police Sgt. Tim Tebbetts.
A woman first called police to report her car, which was parked inside her locked garage, had been broken into, the sergeant said in a written statement. “The front driver-side window had been smashed and the center console ransacked,” he said.
When police arrived, the resident told them a window of the home which she had left closed was now open, and an air conditioning unit that had been shut off was running.
Officers used the resident’s key to enter the home, where they encountered two women, a man and four small children, Tebbetts said.
“They also recovered jewelry the suspects could not identify as theirs, mail, drug paraphernalia and property from the burglarized vehicle,” Tebbetts said.
“The children were between 2 and 6 years old and were dirty and unfed,” he said. “The four children were cleaned, fed and transported to the San Marino Police Department until social workers from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services responded to take custody of the children.”
Police determined one of the arrested women was the mother of three of the children, and the other was the mother of one, Cpl. Brian Wong said. The male suspect was described a one of the women’s boyfriend.
Arrested were Norina Ann Lopez, 26, Sereena Anita Lopez, 24, and Randy Fernando Andrade, 26, all of Long Beach, according to police and Los Angeles County booking records.
Norina Lopez has pleaded not guilty to one charge of burglary and three charges of child endangerment, while Sereena Lopez has denied one count of burglary and one charge of child endangerment, and Andrade had pleaded not guilty to one count of burglary and two counts of child endangerment, Los Angeles County Superior Court records show. All three are scheduled to appear for hearings on June 13 in the Alhambra courthouse.
The suspects were being held in lieu of $330,000 bail, $150,000 bail and $80,000 bail, respectively.
Anyone with information regarding the investigation is asked to contact San Marino police Detective Patrice Garcia at 626-300-0726. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

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