On Friday June 10, 2016 at about 11:30 PM, Simi Valley Police Detectives arrested Pierre Demetrius Hinton and Charles Raynal Smith at Tapo Canyon and the 118 freeway after they had just committed a residential burglary in the Big Sky community of Simi Valley. Detectives, who conducted surveillance of these suspects, observed them break into a home located in the 2200 block of Silverstar St. and followed them away from the area after their crime was committed. They were stopped shortly thereafter with the assistance of Patrol officers and were taken into custody. During the arrest, stolen property belonging to the burglary victim was recovered from the vehicle.

These arrests are the result of an on-going larger scale investigation being conducted by the Simi Valley Police Department and additional suspects are presently being sought. This series of burglaries has involved night time break-ins where the suspects have been looking for residences that appear to be unoccupied at the time. With this current series, the suspects will not knock at the front door prior to the break-in as seen in the past. Instead, they will target houses that are dark with no vehicles parked to the front or in the driveway. Access to the rear yard is made through a side gate where entry into the home is eventually made by a rear window or slider smash.

Charles Raynal Smith and Pierre Demetrius Hinton, who are believed to be members of a Los Angeles area criminal street gang, were booked into the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Facility. Smith’s bail was set at $50,000 and Hinton’s was set at $76,000. Both have since bailed out of custody and are awaiting arraignment later this month.

This trend of crime, as well as the “Knock-Knock Burglaries,” has become far too common in Southern California and has plagued the City of Simi Valley for several years. Several different factions of Los Angeles area criminal street gangs have taken part in this type of crime all throughout Southern California and it is believed that they are responsible for thousands of break-ins resulting in millions of dollars in losses.

As an example, the Simi Valley Police Department released a Nixle alert on June 2, 2016 that discussed an elaborate scheme of residential burglaries, which was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Simi Valley Police Department and other Los Angeles County law enforcement agencies. This scheme was not related in any way to the current series and involved members of a completely different Los Angeles area criminal street gang. With the State’s Re-Alignment Act, also known as Assembly Bill 109, which was signed by Jerry Brown in 2011 and Prop 47, which was passed by a voter ballot initiative in 2014, it has become much more difficult to keep these criminals behind bars.

The Simi Valley Police Department would like to take this opportunity to remind its citizens to remain vigilant and suggest in light of this recent series of burglaries, to leave some lighting and to park vehicles in the driveway at night if possible to give the appearance someone is home.

The Simi Valley Police Department is dedicated to its citizens and is working hard to tackle this current epidemic. The Simi Valley Police Department encourages its citizens to continue to report any suspicious vehicles and or suspicious individuals in their neighborhoods.

To learn how to lessen the likeliness of being a victim of these crimes or other crime prevention tips, citizens may contact Simi Valley Police Department’s Crime Prevention Specialist Jean Marie Maroshek, (805) 583-6276.

Pierre Demetrius Hinton, 25 years old, resident of Altadena, CA

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