Two men arrested, suspected of stealing $290,000 in coins, precious metals from 21 stores in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Clark Counties

Officials arrested two men Sunday, Sept. 30 on suspicion of burglarizing roughly $292,000 worth of collectible coins and merchandise over a 10-week period from business in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties.

Investigators believe Caleb Jamal Griffin, 20, of Long Beach and Owen Lazaro Thompson, 49, of Las Vegas worked together in 21 separate heists that happened between July and September, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives officials said in a news release Monday.

The thefts took place in Fullerton, Covina, Hesperia, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Tustin, Huntington Beach, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance, Signal Hill, Santa Ana, Lake Forest, Brea, Alhambra and Las Vegas.

Authorities arrested Griffin on Sunday while he was allegedly in the process of stealing from Fullerton Coins, 123 N. Raymond Avenue, ATF officials said in their release. Thompson was also taken into custody that day without incident at his home in Las Vegas.

Both suspects had been under surveillance by an ATF Task Force made up of detectives from the Brea and Fullerton Police Departments. They worked with officers from the Signal Hill and Huntington Beach police departments to identify Griffin and Thompson as suspects, ATF officials said.

The suspects typically broke into their targets before dawn by smashing through windows of those businesses, and managed to get in and out in 90 seconds or less, officials wrote in an affidavit supporting the charges filed against them. In some of the burglaries, thieves used an SUV and a tow line to pull down security gates. In one case, the culprits simply drive through the front of the store, ATF officials said.

Griffin and Thompson have been charged with the interstate transportation of stolen goods, ATF officials said. They were scheduled to make their initial court appearances in this case Monday afternoon.