Over the past 3 months, 31 El Pollo Loco restaurants have been burglarized. According to investigators, the suspects cut a swathe across Southern California as they stole around $225,000 in cash from the restaurant chain. The three suspects were arrested on Wednesday, November 11th, after breaking into an El Pollo Loco in Stanton, CA and leaving with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Deputies watched as suspects Kevin Henry and Travis Laguisan broke out some of the glass, then Henry entered the restaurant. Afterwards, the men fled the scene in their automobile only to be arrested down the street by LASD investigators and Garden Grove police. The third suspect, Jason M. Henry, was arrested at his home after investigators found evidence linking him to the string of burglaries.
No information has been released as of yet in regards to the charges the men will be facing, but they will likely include several counts of second degree, or commercial burglary. Second degree burglary is typically charged when someone enters a commercial property, or anywhere that isn’t also a residence, with the intention to commit a felony once inside. It’s a “wobbler” under California law, meaning that it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. Misdemeanor penalties include up to 1-year in county jail, while felony convictions include a penalty of up to 3-years in county jail.
Luckily for the defendants, felony commercial burglary charges do not count as a “strike” under California’s Three Strikes Law.
