Beatriz E. Valenzuela, Staff Writer

After a month-long investigation, three men were arrested in Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of high-end bicycles that have been linked to two local cases, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials said.

Julian Herrera, 23, of Los Angeles, Jaime Herrera, 21, of Panorama City, and Alberto Meji, 24, of Colton, were arrested as they tried to break into a Rancho Cucamonga garage, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff ‘s release. They are being held at the Adelanto Detention Center.

It’s been about a month since Jason Conley awoke to find someone had broken into his garage and made off with more than $33,000 in bicycles and a wheel set.

The thieves bypassed his family’s cars and motorcycle but made off with his Pinerello Dogma worth about $13,000, his wife’s Pinerello FP7 and his Trek Top Fuel and a wheel set.

Victorville station detectives confirmed the bike-boosting trio is connected to Conley’s case as well as a case out of Phelan and another out of Loma Linda.

Investigators said the Herrera brothers and Mejia used Craigslist and Facebook to steal about 200 high-end bicycles throughout Southern California.

The men would identify their targets on Craigslist, officials said. They would contact prospective sellers by using phony names and email addresses and, after establishing a dialogue, the trio would gleem enough information to identify the residences where the bicycles were being kept.

[…]

Investigators believe the men would then sell some of the stolen bicycles to a Los Angeles bicycle shop owned by Melecio Martinez, 33, of Los Angeles. Several of the stolen items were located at Martinez’s shop, Los Angeles officials said.

Detectives said the thieves scanned Craigslist and Facebook to prey on the growing online bicycling community who share photos of their bikes and look for parts on the Internet.

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Source: vvdailypress.com/articles/cases-34399-arrested-three.html

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