December 17, 2021
GARDEN GROVE, California—Authorities have arrested Floarea Ghiocel and her son Marius Ghiocel on Tuesday in connection with nearly 30 robberies targeting Asian seniors over the last six months.
Garden Grove police pulled over a car around 4 p.m. on Tuesday and arrested Floarea Ghiocel. As police officers were bringing her back to the police station, they noticed a car following them, reports FOX11.
Police officers then pulled over that car in front of the station and ended up arresting Floarea’s son, Marius as well. Both had warrants out for their arrests for multiple robberies.
According to the Garden Grove Police Department, the mother and son are part of a group of Romanian gypsies responsible for 28 robberies. In each case, the burglars targeted elderly Asian people with expensive jewelry. The gypsies would approach the victims, remove their jewelry and replace it with similar fake pieces.
“The only thing missing are silver bullets and werewolves from this story,” one Vietnamese resident in Garden Grove stated.
“These suspects are smooth and methodical in their approach,” the department said in a press release. “Enough so that many victims would not realize their jewelry had been stolen until hours later.”
In some cases, the burglars chose to violently rip off the jewelry instead—depending on the situation, according to FOX11.
“These groups will move up and down the state, state to state, committing similar crimes,” the press release said.
Garden Grove Police are continuing to investigate these robberies. They urge anyone with information to contact them at 714-741-5836.
Feature Images via GGPD