Former local high school students charged in Hollywood celebrity burglaries

Acorn file photo IN HAPPIER TIMES—Diana Tamayo at the 2008 Indian Hills High School graduation. She’s been charged with burglary. When Rachel Lee and Diana Tamayo graduated in 2008 from Indian Hills High School in Calabasas, it seemed as though their troubled lives had been turned around.

During graduation ceremonies at the alternative high school, Lee was presented with a creative arts scholarship, and Tamayo, who was the school’s student body president, was given a $1,500 “Future Teacher” scholarship by the Las Virgenes Educators Association.

But the accolades ended there.

Lee, 18, is said to be the mastermind behind a host of burglaries during the past year at the homes of Hollywood celebrities. Tamayo, 19, and other local teens were willing cohorts.

According to a report from the Los Angeles Police Department, search warrants were served in the cities of Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Los Angeles and Las Vegas that led to the arrest of five people on charges of robbing the homes of several Hollywood A-listers.

Lee was the only suspect to be arrested out of state. She was picked up at her father’s home in Las Vegas, the report said.

“I thought Rachel was a nice girl and would never have expected anything like this from her,” said Karen Gregor, an Indian Hills classmate.

Also charged are Courtney Ames, 18, Alexis Neiers, 18, and Roy Lopez Jr., 27.

Although police did not say who the celebrity victims are, media reports named heiress Paris Hilton, who allegedly had $2 million worth of jewelry stolen from her Hollywood Hills home last December. Many of the stolen Hilton items have been recovered, police said.

In August, the burglars hit the home of Lindsay Lohan and made off with $128,000 in cash and designer clothes.

One of the search warrants uncovered three firearms and a large amount of narcotics.

When Lee was arrested at her father’s Las Vegas home last week, computers, cash, marijuana, a Korean passport and other items were seized by officers, according to an online news report.

It’s believed the gang of thieves plotted out what they wanted to steal before the actual break-ins took place. They reportedly found the addresses of their targets and their schedules online.

Pictures of some of the items they wanted to nab were taken into evidence, according to reports.

Lee, Tamayo and the others are also suspects in a $500,000 heist at the home of actor Orlando Bloom from “Pirates of the Caribbean” fame. Expensive art and jewelry were stolen from Bloom’s property.

Other burglaries may eventually be pinned on the gang, including break-ins at the homes of actors Audrina Patridge, Hayden Panettiere and others.

The girls were arrested on suspicion of burglary, but formal charges have not yet been filed. Bail was set at $50,000 for all suspects, police said.

Donald Zimring, Las Virgenes Unified School District superintendent, said the arrest of the two Indian Hills students should not reflect negatively on the school and its 35 graduates, all of whom faced challenges both in and out of the classroom. The school has since moved to Agoura Hills.

“It is sad when the media ties the alleged criminal actions of a few young adults back to the school they attended several years ago as if the school and the current students were somehow involved or responsible,” Zimring said.

Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call LAPD Hollywood Division burglary detectives at (213) 972-2930, or log on to www.lapdonline.org.