GPS Trackers Help Capture Burbank Perfume Thieves

BURBANK (CBSLA) – A man and woman suspected of stealing thousands of dollars' worth of perfume in a smash-and-grab burglary at a Burbank beauty store this weekend were captured with the help of GPS tracking devices.

Mariel Miranda-Guerra, 33, and Giovanni Lopez-Valencia, 27, both of Reseda, were arrested within an hour of the burglary, which occurred at around midnight Saturday at Ulta Beauty, located at 1351 Victory Pl.

On the night of the incident, Burbank police officers responded to a burglary alarm at the store to find that its front window had been shattered and several bottles of perfume had been stolen.

However, some of the stolen perfume had GPS tracking devices attached to them. With the help of a Los Angeles police helicopter, the suspects were tracked to the 118 Freeway.

The two were eventually caught at 1 a.m. Sunday in the 21000 block of Roscoe Boulevard in Canoga Park, where officers found stolen Ulta perfume in their car, along with common burglary tools, police said.

The stolen perfume had an estimated value of more than $19,000, police said.

Miranda-Guerra and Lopez-Valencia were booked into the Burbank city jail and are facing one count each of burglary and grand theft. Each is being held on $250,000 bail.

They are expected to be arraigned Tuesday.