The San Joaquin County Sheriffs Office announced a vehicle burglary resulted in the discovery of a Richmond pawns hop involved in a nationwide burglary ring.
On April 1, 2023, a vehicle burglary that occurred in Stockton, in the Lincoln Center Parking lot, was reported to the Sheriff’s Office. Our Special Services Division became involved and identified the suspect in this case as DeShawn Leandrei Allen, a validated gang member from Richmond, CA.
A search warrant was established, his residence was searched, and he was taken into custody. After his cell phone was seized, communication was discovered between the suspect and the owner of the Oromax Pawn Shop in Richmond, CA.
This communication included photographs of the items DeShawn Leandrei Allen had stolen and, in turn, was now requesting to sell these items to the Oromax Pawn Shop owner, Urias Joram Hernandez Ochoa.
The Sheriffs Office said this led to a search warrant being served to the Oromax Pawn Shop, where a significant amount of stolen items were found: cellular devices, laptops, cameras, and more. The owner was arrested and released on his own recognizance. All items have been seized and brought back to the Sheriff’s Office for processing and identification of the victims.
DeShawn Leandrei Allen has been charged with the following:
- 2nd Degree Burglary
- Grand Theft Exceeding $950.00
- Possession of burglary tools
- Vandalism
- Receiving stolen property
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Conspiracy
- Conspiracy
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Receiving Stolen Property
The Sheriffs Office said their team has spent countless hours photographing the items, searching for victims with the hopes of returning the stolen items to their rightful owners. Many victims were visitors/travelers to the bay area.
They have contacted many as far as Brooklyn, New York, and multiple locations on the East Coast and across the country while making contact with no less than 140 victims and hope to reach more. To date, of every single person we have contacted, not one person has claimed ever to have sold or pawned anything at the Oromax pawn shop, confirming all were victims of theft.
The Sheriffs Office said they recognize how valuable, not just in monetary but in memory, these items are – some containing videos and images of loved ones who have since passed away and gifts from family that hold sentimental value.
Unfortunately, some items do not contain serial numbers and/or have been wiped clean of any identification. They are posting a Dropbox link that contains images of the seized items with the hopes that victims can search for what is believed to be theirs.
If you were a victim of a burglary in the bay area and surrounding area, we encourage you to search through these images. Please share with the hopes of this reaching further victims. If you see an item that you believe to belong to you that can be verified via a serial number or specific marking (a known scratch, etch, personalized stickers, etc.) that you can identify, please contact our office: AGNET 209.468.4424
The Sheriff and all at the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office want this message to be clear, we will not allow this crime to continue in our county, and we will do all we can to protect our citizens.
