Columnist Jeff German: Police get big break in string of burglaries

Friday, April 25, 2003 | 5:17 a.m.

AFTER NEARLY a year, Metro Police finally may be on their way to solving a string of burglaries in the Chinese community.

It should bring relief to the shaken community and strengthen the growing bond between officers who patrol the area and Chinese-Americans who traditionally have shied away from police.

In all, 20 burglaries have been reported since June in the area south of Desert Inn Road and west of Rainbow Boulevard. Passports, jewelry and cash have been among the items stolen in a crime wave officers suspect may be linked to a Chinese criminal group in New York.

As you may recall from reading this space, the investigation was slowed by cultural and language barriers that prevented police from developing solid leads. With little cooperation from the community, police found themselves hoping for a lucky break.

Officers assigned to Metro's Southwest Area Command Center got lucky Monday afternoon when the 20th victim came home to a burglary in progress. The victim, a woman of Chinese descent, and her neighbors chased the two suspects, catching one of them. Police, with the help of residents, later captured the second suspect.

"It's the break that we've been looking for," said Sgt. Mike Maines, who has been spearheading the investigation. "It's exactly what we needed to close out all of these cases."

What has gotten Maines so excited is that one of the suspects is believed to be the registered owner of a Mitsubishi Galant with New York license plates that witnesses spotted outside the home of the previous burglary.

Police won't release the names of the two suspects, who claim not to speak English, because they're still trying to positively identify them. One even was booked on burglary charges as a John Doe. Both were carrying out-of-state driver's licenses, but police aren't sure whether the licenses belong to the suspects or were stolen.

Officers believe the burglary ring, which also may have been operating in other cities, is big on identity theft. Passports, which can be sold on the black market for $5,000 to $35,000, were taken in most of the local burglaries.

Though police haven't caught everybody tied to the ring, and they still haven't found that Mitsubishi Galant, the two arrests last week are giving officers a chance to finally do what they've been unable to do for months -- look for fingerprint matches and pass around photos of suspects.

"We can be more proactive now," Maines said. "We have everything in place to investigate these crimes properly."

Police also are in contact with FBI agents and intelligence detectives from the New York Police Department looking for links here to major Asian criminal organizations.

But maybe the biggest thing to come out of last week's arrests, lucky break and all, is the meshing of two cultures.

In the past police have had trouble just getting members of the Chinese community to report crimes.

Last week officers not only were called to the scene of the crime, but they also worked hand-in-hand with residents to track down the suspects and take them into custody.

"This is great for the community," said Frank Tsou, a prominent member of the Asian Chamber of Commerce. "It's going to encourage people to be more cooperative with the police."

The teamwork also didn't go unnoticed by Capt. Tom Conlin, who runs the Southwest Area Command Center.

"The stereotype, I think, is melting away as people from that culture stay more in tune to our culture and start understanding what we're all about," Conlin said.

Local Chinese-Americans will have an even better understanding of police when the book on all 20 burglaries is closed.