In June, a wallet was stolen from a parked car at the Shady Canyon trailhead, according to the Irvine Police Department.
Soon after, the thief used the victim’s credit cards to make purchases at the Irvine Spectrum, all caught on security cameras.
Fast forward to Thursday, when IPD Crime Impact Unit spotted the same man with a woman at Trader Joe’s in Lake Forest. Detectives watched as the two targeted an elderly shopper, distracted her and took her wallet and phone.
The officers followed the pair to the Spectrum, where they tried to make more fraudulent purchases. That is when CIU detectives decided it was time to close out their account with a trip to the Orange County Jail…