Potential Cellblock Cuties Scooped in Hollywood Police Dragnet

California high school girls dubbed by some as the “Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch” have been arrested for break-ins at the homes of young celebrities.  LAPD sources said detectives have linked the teenagers to a burglary spree that began in October 2008 and continued through September at the homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Audrina Patridge, Orlando Bloom and Rachel Bilson.

According to Los Angeles police detectives, the group studied television shows, celebrity magazines and websites picking out clothing and jewelry they wanted. Then they figured out where the celebrities lived and, after casing the homes, broke in and took what they wanted, detectives allege.

“This is a no-brains caper. There’s not a lot of self-awareness,” LAPD Det. Brett Goodkin said. “They saw it, they wanted it, they took it and continued taking it.”  Four teens — Rachel J. Lee, 19; Diana Tamayo, 19; Courtney Ames, 18; and Alexis Neiers, 18 — were arrested last week on suspicion of burglary in several of the cases. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has not filed charges against them.

Most of the group were classmates at Indian Hills High School, in Agoura Hills an upscale suburb of Los Angeles.  BMWs and Audis were parked in the student lot Monday, and some of the nearby roads mark off horse trails for equestrians.  Take note these were privileged girls.  Young ladies who live in gated communities and aren’t feeling the sting of the economic downturn.  Spoiled brats with parents who have lawyered up to protect their idiotic progeny.  Note to Mom and Dad– maybe if you did a better job of parenting this wouldn’t have happened.

It would be one thing if they lived in Barstow and were mesmerized by the bright lights and glamor of Hollywood– but they live in the freakin San Fernando Valley.  You live here– you know its all fake, at least you’re supposed to know that.  Hell one of the girls was in reality TV show pilot.  But apparently that wasn’t enough. Alexis Neiers was set to appear with her family in a reality-TV pilot about aspiring actresses on the cable network E!, and she was arrested on the set of the show, police said. E! officials said in a statement that they were concerned about the accusations.

And the E! executives aren’t the only ones that are worried. A young woman who identified herself as Neiers’ sister said at the family’s Thousand Oaks home Monday that the accusations are untrue. “My family is in so much debt,” she said. “If this TV show falls through, you don’t know how bad this is going to be.”  So why did your sister go all Catwoman? Allegedly.  But wait it gets better…Alexis’ other sister is Playboy cyber model Tess Taylor.  Tess helped her little sister make bail.  Maybe the Girls Next Door will make an appearance.

And then there are the laywers.  I know they are just doing their jobs.  But trying to play off actual crimes of breaking and entering as being, “all about fun.” is sickening.   We have these alleged fools on videotape.  But somehow, “This is a case of someone in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Jeffrey K. Rubenstein, Neiers’ attorney. “When the truth comes out, Alexis will be cleared of all these allegations.” Attorneys for Tamayo, Lee and Ames could not be reached for comment.

Now the girls did have some help.  Two men have also been arrested. Nicholas Frank Prugo, 18, was charged with the burglaries of the Lohan and Patridge homes. Ray Lopez, a 27-year-old bartender, is accused by police of helping the teens fence stolen goods. A third man, who was not identified, is being sought in the case, Goodkin said.

Sean Erenstoft, Prugo’s attorney, said his client was identified on one of the surveillance videos but that he played a “limited role” in the burglaries.   He said he believes the teenagers didn’t plan to make money.  “It would be fun to do capers. It was all about fun,” he said. “It was one of those cases of you get bored, and it was something to do with a little technology.” Right.  Mr. Erenstoft if these little delinquents robbed your house, would it “be all about fun”?

According to prosecutors, Patridge’s home was broken into on Feb. 23, and more than $43,000 in jewelry and designer clothes were taken. Lohan’s home was burglarized on Aug. 23 and an estimated $128,000 in jewelry, designer clothes and accessories were taken.  One of the women, 19-year-old suspect Rachel J. Lee, is also under investigation for possibly being involved in the $2 million jewelry heist at Paris Hilton’s home last year, and is suspected of being the ringleader of these crimes, the source adds.   Right, it couldn’t be about the money.

I don’t think they can play the minor card.  These ladies are 18 and 19, old enough to know better.  What’s bizarre is that the victims’ attorney is blaming the paparazzi and not the parents.   Beyond the suggestion of suburban teenagers beguiled into crime by a hunger for celebrity riches, representatives of some of the victims aimed accusations at a familiar target: the ever-present paparazzi who document the most mundane aspects of the lives of the young and famous.  Blair Berk, an attorney who represents some of the victims, blamed “paparazzi shots and magazine coverage” for “increasingly prying into the private homes, schools and personal possessions of stars.”

“There are only so many shot of a star’s back gate before someone, be it a stalker or burglar, goes through it,” Berk said.

Right… we know those young impressionable girls couldn’t look away from E! and TMZ.  And we know that those same stars don’t court and seek that attention to push their careers.  Speaking as someone who works in the Industrial-Entertanment-Media Complex… its not our fault.  We put this stuff out there.  Its your job to accept or ignore all this crap.  If you are an adult you are suppose to make your decisions accordingly.  If you are a parent, your kids are your responsibility.  Blaming us for your failings and weaknesses as a human bring is a cop out.