Police Wednesday announced the arrest of a suspect in nearly two dozen residential burglaries in the Koreatown area.
The crimes occurred between May 2017 and earlier this month, according to the criminal complaint filed against Marcelino Perez, who was arrested Thursday and was being held at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic in lieu of $1.05 million bail.
At his arraignment Monday, Perez, 54, pleaded not guilty to 20 counts of first-degree residential burglary and one county of first-degree residential burglary with a person present. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 30.
In late April, Los Angeles police held a news conference and released surveillance footage that captured clear images of the culprit during one of the heists. At that time, the man was suspected in at least 14 burglaries over the past year.
The culprit proved to be elusive, slipping into apartments with apparent ease, appearing to have locksmith-like skills or the ability to pick locks quickly, police said. He would sweep through the units quickly, leaving within a matter of minutes with cash or jewelry without ever being spotted by neighbors.
Police said it was unclear if the suspect was casing individual apartments and knew when residents wouldn’t be home.
The suspect, who appeared to dress like a maintenance man, focused on apartments generally between Harvard Boulevard and Catalina Street in the Koreatown area, according to the LAPD.