2 connected to designer sunglass retail thefts in San Francisco, East Bay plead guilty
SAN FRANCISCO – Two men connected to a series of retail thefts involving designer sunglasses in San Francisco and the East Bay have been convicted of robbery, prosecutors said.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Thursday that 22-year-old Delandro Belvine-Brown of Antioch and 24-year-old Sean Raquel Jevonce Simon of Richmond pleaded guilty in the case. The pair have been sentenced to three years in state prison.
"These crimes demand accountability and we need to send the message to others involved in this criminal enterprise that, with the support of our local law enforcement partners, our office will continue to pursue and prosecute those involved," Jenkins said in a statement.
"With San Francisco Police Department receiving $15.3 million dollars and our office receiving $2 million from the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program, law enforcement agencies in San Francisco will continue to identify, investigate, and prosecute all levels of this criminal enterprise," the district attorney went on to say, referring to grants the state awarded to cities and counties last month to address ongoing thefts.
According to prosecutors, Belvine-Brown and Simon were part of a group who committed thefts from Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters and Veo Optics stores in San Francisco between November 2021 and July 2022.
"By employing a consistent brazen theft strategy, Mr. Belvine-Brown, Mr. Simon, and others entered the store as a group, rapidly grabbed numerous expensive sunglasses from display shelves, and quickly exited the store and got in an awaiting car," the DA's office said.
San Francisco police and Brentwood police conducted a joint investigation, as similar thefts took place in Contra Costa County.
Prosecutors said Belvine-Brown and Simon remain in custody Thursday but did not say when they would be transported to CDCR custody to begin serving their sentences in state prison.