Four Arrested on Burglary Charges in Visalia

Shopping can be a bit frantic at this time of year, but grabbing the goods got downright illicit at a Visalia retail store. Four people weren’t stuffing stockings on December 11, they were allegedly stuffing their purses. Then they were arrested for burglary.

The store security officer at the Visalia Sears store became suspicious when he noticed four people loading up large bags with store merchandise. The suspects were caught grabbing clothes and putting them into their big purses on the store’s security camera, according to Visalia Police Sgt. Steve Phillips.

When the four left the store and came back in, possibly for more loot, the security officer stopped them and called the Visalia Police, Sgt. Phillips said.

Twenty-eight-year-old Francisco Espinoza of 1020 Wilson No. 2 in Selma, 47-year-old Irma Garza of 3207 Thompson in Selma, Louie Hernandez Lopez, 36, and Maria Olmos Lopez, 32, both of 260 Young St. in Visalia were taken into custody on burglary charges. They were booked into the Tulare County Jail.