Serial Burglars Caught, Police Returning Property

By Alastair Bland

Since Sept. 13, San Francisco police officers have arrested three men believed to be key players in the "tunnel-home-entrance burglaries," a string of robberies that plagued homes in the Sunset, Richmond and Ingleside districts between January and November. The men have been charged with several burglary-related crimes, and the case continues to develop.

Inspector Lewis Bronfeld of SF Police Department's burglary detail said Derek Wong, 25, and Albert Hernandez, 38, are alleged to have committed the bulk of the robberies while the third man in custody,Darin Delahoussaye, also 38, received the stolen items and acted as a "fence," a term used by police to denote a person who buys and markets stolen property.

While Wong and Hernandez employed similar tactics and targeted similarly-styled homes - those with iron fences on the outside and a tunnel leading to the front door - they worked alone and independently of one another.

"What they had in common," says Bronfeld, "is this guy who bought their stuff."

The stolen property found in Delahoussaye's possession includes jewelry and illegal firearms. Police have reason to believe that there is still another burglary suspect at large who was working with Delahoussaye.

"We think Delahoussaye was running a large-scale fencing operation. He had property from Wong and Hernandez, but he also had additional property," Bronfeld said.

The inspector says the recovered material is believed to have been stolen from homes in the Ingleside District by a man described as a "scruffy" white male with long hair. The tunnel burglaries began in January. In the next 10 months, the suspects entered approximately 100 residences. The suspects would wait for residents to leave before entering a home. They would then pry their way through the front gate, at which point the tunnel-like entrances offered the suspects relative privacy, and then smash open the front door of the home. Once inside, the burglars would hit the bedroom, grabbing whatever they could get before fleeing.

On Sept. 13, Wong was seen exiting a house. The witness recorded Wong's license plate as he drove away. Police arrested him shortly thereafter.

Hernandez, too, was initially linked to the burglaries through his license plate number. He was observed leaving the scene of a burglary on Lawton Street Oct. 23, and on Nov. 4 the highway patrol pulled Hernandez over on Interstate 80 in Berkeley and arrested him. Delahoussaye was in the car with Hernandez at the time, and a week later police searched his San Francisco home. They found numerous loaded firearms, body-armor-piercing ammunition and a safe containing a large quantity of jewelry that is suspected of being stolen.

Delahoussaye now faces two counts of possessing or receiving stolen property, two counts of possessing stolen firearms, and one count of possessing prohibited ammunition.

Bronfeld says more charges may be added if police arrest another suspect in connection with Delahoussaye's fencing operation. Wong faces several counts of first-degree burglary charges.

Hernandez, also wanted in San Mateo County on criminal charges, has been charged with first-degree burglary. Trial dates for the three suspects have yet to be set.

Prior reports stated that Wong, Hernandez and the remaining suspect or suspects stole as much as $200,000 worth of material in their 10-month spree of burglaries, but Bronfeld says this is a conservative estimate.

"It's probably much more than that. We've made recoveries in the tens of thousands of dollars so far, but a lot of high-end stuff is already gone. We're talking 18- to 24-karat gold items, diamond jewelry and laptops."

Bronfeld says the items have probably been sold and are very unlikely to be traced or recovered. The recovered items, however, are in the possession of the SF Police Department.

Victims of the tunnel burglaries can call a police hotline at (415) 553-1394 to receive instructions in English or Cantonese on how to proceed with the process of claiming property.

"These items are of monetary and sentimental value," Bronfeld said. "Hopefully, we'll get them back to their owners."