Brad Pitt's LA home torn up by burglars while he attends 'F1' premiere
Los Angeles police officials said a break-in at a home occurred around 10:30pm Wednesday.
At least three suspects scaled the security fence at Pitt's Los Feliz-area house and smashed a window before entering, making "a real mess" and stealing some items, according to sources not authorized to discuss the case.
Pitt's possessions were tossed and overturned as the thieves "had gone through looking for what they could take of value," said one source familiar with the crime.
Pitt is one of the latest celebrities to see their home burglarised. South American theft gangs have plagued upscale areas of LA in recent years.
In early February, Olivier Giroud, the French striker who plays for Los Angeles FC, had his home targeted and $500,000 worth of jewellery and watches stolen, sources said. On Valentine's Day, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's home was burglarised.
Pitt's Midcentury Modern home, dubbed the Steel House, is one of several owned by the movie star. He was in London on Monday night for the European premiere of F1 The Movie.
Last August, the FBI, working with local police, dismantled a multimillion-dollar crime tourism ring that had operated for years in Southern California, facilitating thefts across the country. Their investigation led them to a most unusual hub: a Los Angeles car rental business.
The group directed crime tourists who committed hundreds of thefts across the nation — including in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties — beginning around 2018. The thefts occurred in about 80 cities in California, Colorado, Arizona, New Jersey, Kansas and Illinois and netted about $5.5 million for those charged in the case, according to the indictment. Prosecutors, however, estimated the loss to businesses and homeowners at about $35 million.
The trend of South American crime groups visiting Southern California for thefts and robberies emerged roughly six years ago, and authorities have been grappling to get it under control. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
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