Police informant says Las Vegas 19-year-old was ‘driving force’ behind celebrity burglary case

Police: LA celebrity burglaries led by 19-year-old

LAS VEGAS — A man arrested for allegedly burglarizing celebrities’ homes in Los Angeles has told police that the 19-year-old woman who masterminded the ring wanted to own the designer wardrobes of her favorite Hollywood stars.

According to a Las Vegas police search warrant obtained Friday, Nicholas Purgo told detectives Rachel Jungeon Lee was the driving force behind the break-ins.

Purgo described the burglaries, the other young people who participated and the artwork, jewelry and designer clothing that was taken from the homes of Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.

Purgo says he and Lee took more than $200,000 worth of Chanel merchandise from Rachel Bilson’s home and removed thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, including family heirlooms, from Paris Hilton’s home.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A home search of a 19-year-old woman identified as the leader of an alleged celebrity home burglary ring turned up names of accomplices, according to search warrants obtained Friday.

The warrants showed that police seized a clipboard with papers on which Rachel J. Lee had allegedly drawn a circle with an unspecified number of lines radiating out to names.

In an arrest report, Detective Ethan Grimes wrote that a Los Angeles police detective confirmed that the names on the paper were “names of the other subjects they had identified in the crime ring.” Lee’s name was not on the page, Grimes wrote.

The warrants also show that police found three photos of Paris Hilton, two pairs of designer jeans, a white hat, three computers, a Korean passport and 204 $100 bills when they arrested Lee at the home in northwest Las Vegas on Oct. 22.

Police also confiscated less than one ounce of marijuana and paraphernalia.

Grimes could not be reached Friday for comment. Officer Barbara Morgan, a Las Vegas police spokeswoman, referred calls to Los Angeles police and Officer Norma Eisenman, an LAPD spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Lee was booked at the Clark County jail on a charge of possession of stolen property charge and released after posting $3,000 bail, Morgan said. Charges were not immediately filed and prosecutors in Los Angeles asked police to investigate her further.

Morgan said she did not know if Lee was represented by a lawyer. She could not immediately be reached Friday for comment.

The search of Lee’s four-bedroom single-story home in the Lone Mountain area came amid an investigation in which Los Angeles police seized dozens of diamond rings, high-end shoes, bags, guns and drugs from the homes of three people in Southern California.

Three women and two men were charged with breaking into the tony Hollywood Hills homes of celebrities including Hilton, Audrina Patridge, Lindsay Lohan, Orlando Bloom, Paris Hilton, Megan Fox and Rachel Bilson.

Police have arrested a third man, Jonathan Ajar, who faces 10 felony charges after detectives found drugs and weapons at his home during a search. Ajar was convicted of a federal drug charge in 2002 and was not supposed to possess firearms.

A search warrant in Los Angeles shows detectives seized several guns, including a 9mm gun registered to actor Brian Austin Green, from Ajar’s home.

The suspects, ranging in age from 18 to 27, were due for arraignment later this month in Los Angeles Superior Court.