HOLLYWOOD—In 2009 there was a string of high-profile robberies in the Hollywood Hills. Police have conducted a year-long investigation and over the past two weeks the celebrities whose homes were burglarized have been testifying before the grand jury. On Friday, July 2, the suspects were indicted by the grand jury and now the case will go straight to trial.
In total, there are seven suspects who comprise the “Bling Ring” or “Burglar Bunch” as they have come to be known by the media. Teenager Nicholas Frank Prugo was arrested by the police in September of last year and charged with robbing starlet Lindsay Lohan and reality star Audrina Patridge after he and an accomplice were caught on surveillance tape. Though he stayed quiet in the immediate aftermath of his arrest, Prugo eventually provided the police with a full confession.
In it, he identified his accomplices, naming Rachel Jungeon Lee as the ringleader of sorts; however, later reports identified Prugo as the head of the group. Lee, a former Agoura Hills High School student, was accused of selecting the celebrities to rob, at which point her accomplices would troll the Internet for personal information including the stars’ home addresses and schedules.
The stars whose homes were burglarized aside from Lohan and Patridge include Paris Hilton, Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox, Ashley Tisdale and Orlando Bloom.
In June, Alexis Neiers, the star of the reality TV show “Pretty Wild,” turned herself in and pleaded no contest to the burglary of the home of Orlando Bloom last year. Neiers will serve six months in a women’s jail. TMZ caught the girl’s LA courthouse surrender and the video has been widely viewed online.
Another man is currently serving time for his part in the crimes—acting as a middleman and selling the stolen property for the group.
As for the other “Bling Ring” members, after being indicted by the grand jury, their cases will go straight to trial.
