A burglar broke into investment fund manager Jeffrey Gundlach's Santa Monica mansion sometime between 3 PM on September 12 and 8 PM on September 14, 2012. The intruder made off with $10 million worth of art as well as bottles of rare wine and several expensive watches. The burglar returned to the scene a few hours after the initial break-in to steal Mr. Gundlach's red 2010 Porsche Carrera 4S.
Investigators did not reveal how the thief gained entry, or how the intruder circumvented the home burglary alarm system. Moreover, there was no information released regarding how the thief knew the art was in Gundlach's dwelling. The house burglar also knew to strike when Gundlach was on a business trip.
Following the heist, Jeffrey Gundlach offered a $1 million reward for one of the paintings as well as a separate $500,000 for information leading to the recovery of another piece of art.
On September 26, 2012, detectives in Pasadena called the Santa Monica burglary squad regarding a tip they had received about the location of some of the stolen paintings. According to the tipster, most of the stolen art was being held at Al and Ed's Autosound Store in Pasadena. Detectives executed a search warrant at the store which led to the recovery of several of Mr. Gundlach's paintings.
Following the Pasadena search, officers arrested the store's 45-year-old manager, Jay Nieto. A Los Angeles County prosecutor charged Nieto with receiving stolen property and possession of stolen items.
Shortly after Nieto's arrest, detectives recovered four of the stolen paintings from a house in San Gabriel owned by 40-year-old Wilmer Cadiz. Cadiz was charged with the possession and receipt of stolen property.
Nieto and Cadiz's cooperation with investigators led to the arrest, on January 4, 2013, of a known burglar named Darren Agee Merager. Charged with first-degree residential burglary and receiving stolen property, the 43-year-old Merager faced up to nine years in prison.
The Los Angeles prosecutor also charged Merager's 68-year-old mother, Brenda Merager, and his two brothers, Wanis and Ely Wahba, with receiving stolen property. According to detectives, Merager's mother and his brothers had tried to sell some of the loot. Eventually the prosecutor dropped the charges against the mother.
On January 22, 2014, Jay Nieto and Wilmer Codiz each pleaded no contest to one count of receiving stolen property. In return for their pleas, the judge sentenced each man to three years probation.
The Wahba brothers also pleaded no contest to receiving stolen property. A judge sentenced them in April 2014 to probation.
The burglar and car thief, Darren Agee Merager, pleaded guilty on January 22, 2014 to first-degree residential burglary and receiving stolen property. The judge sentenced him to four years in prison.
All of the wealthy financier's paintings, as well as his Porsche, were recovered in good condition. (I don't know about the watches and the wine.) Breaking into middle class homes and selling off the loot--usually TVs, computers, jewelry and guns--is not that difficult. But high-end mansion burglaries like this case often unravel when thieves try to convert the extremely valuable merchandise into cash. Also, when there are several people involved in the caper, chances are someone will talk too much, and when brought in by detectives for questioning, snitch on the others in return for a plea deal.
Investigators did not reveal how the thief gained entry, or how the intruder circumvented the home burglary alarm system. Moreover, there was no information released regarding how the thief knew the art was in Gundlach's dwelling. The house burglar also knew to strike when Gundlach was on a business trip.
Following the heist, Jeffrey Gundlach offered a $1 million reward for one of the paintings as well as a separate $500,000 for information leading to the recovery of another piece of art.
On September 26, 2012, detectives in Pasadena called the Santa Monica burglary squad regarding a tip they had received about the location of some of the stolen paintings. According to the tipster, most of the stolen art was being held at Al and Ed's Autosound Store in Pasadena. Detectives executed a search warrant at the store which led to the recovery of several of Mr. Gundlach's paintings.
Following the Pasadena search, officers arrested the store's 45-year-old manager, Jay Nieto. A Los Angeles County prosecutor charged Nieto with receiving stolen property and possession of stolen items.
Shortly after Nieto's arrest, detectives recovered four of the stolen paintings from a house in San Gabriel owned by 40-year-old Wilmer Cadiz. Cadiz was charged with the possession and receipt of stolen property.
Nieto and Cadiz's cooperation with investigators led to the arrest, on January 4, 2013, of a known burglar named Darren Agee Merager. Charged with first-degree residential burglary and receiving stolen property, the 43-year-old Merager faced up to nine years in prison.
The Los Angeles prosecutor also charged Merager's 68-year-old mother, Brenda Merager, and his two brothers, Wanis and Ely Wahba, with receiving stolen property. According to detectives, Merager's mother and his brothers had tried to sell some of the loot. Eventually the prosecutor dropped the charges against the mother.
On January 22, 2014, Jay Nieto and Wilmer Codiz each pleaded no contest to one count of receiving stolen property. In return for their pleas, the judge sentenced each man to three years probation.
The Wahba brothers also pleaded no contest to receiving stolen property. A judge sentenced them in April 2014 to probation.
The burglar and car thief, Darren Agee Merager, pleaded guilty on January 22, 2014 to first-degree residential burglary and receiving stolen property. The judge sentenced him to four years in prison.
All of the wealthy financier's paintings, as well as his Porsche, were recovered in good condition. (I don't know about the watches and the wine.) Breaking into middle class homes and selling off the loot--usually TVs, computers, jewelry and guns--is not that difficult. But high-end mansion burglaries like this case often unravel when thieves try to convert the extremely valuable merchandise into cash. Also, when there are several people involved in the caper, chances are someone will talk too much, and when brought in by detectives for questioning, snitch on the others in return for a plea deal.
In June 2021, about nine years after the Santa Monica art theft case, Darren Agee Merager's name was back in the news when he entered the Wi Spa women's locker room in Los Angeles as a trans-woman and exposed his penis to four women and a young girl. The victims confronted the spa staff about the incident and were shocked when the management sided with Merager, accusing the victims of anti-trans-woman bias. Frustrated, one of the victims recorded her angry exchange with a spa staff member and posted it on the Internet. The video went viral.
On September 1, 2021, Darren Merager, in connection with the Wi Spa incident, was charged with five counts of indecent exposure. At the time, Merager, a registered sex offender, was facing sex felony charges for an indecent exposure incident that took place at another Los Angeles women's spa locker room. This offense took place in December 2018. News outlets also reported that the art thief/burglar/transgender/sex offender had been convicted in 2002 and 2003 of indecent exposure.
A curious thing, but in 2005 I received a letter from Darren Merager, who at that time was serving time in a California State Prison in Solano. I don't know him, but was bewildered that someone in prison arbitrarily selected me from a list of Re/Max Agents in Beverly Hills. In the letter, dated October 23, 2005, he is asking me to provide Beverly Hills real estate information north of Wilshire Blvd. only. He also asked that I send him books, such as Christies Great Estates, etc.
ReplyDeleteI kept the letter and one day in 2014 I found the envelope and decided to google Darren and found an article from the LA Times about a man sentenced for art theft from bond trader Jeffrey Gundlach.
I just love the randomness of the universe, because here I am writing about this in 2016, 11 years later.
He is at it for sure. Merager Recording Solutions
Delete+1. He also sent me a letter from Vacaville when I was selling real estate. He wrote asking me to send him listings around $2.5 M mark (I figured he was delusional, but sounds more like a con artist or maybe bipolar). Also kept the letter and was curious if he was still doing time. Not surprised he re-offended. This is why prisons should rehabilitate offenders.
ReplyDelete...delusional...con artist...bipolar...are you a real estate agent or a psychiatrist!!!???...visions beyond your scope would actually make you delusional!!!
DeleteIt looks like Darren Merager learned NOTHING from his prison experience: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9951917/Trans-woman-sparked-outrage-exposing-penis-LA-spa-named-CHARGED-indecent-exposure.html
ReplyDeleteDarren has fulfilled their commitment to society and is not on probation or parole being a female gender with a big dick is not a crime you sounded jealous
DeleteNo, but showing it in public for his (their) sexual gratification is.
DeleteSeems that someone struck an nerve with Darren. No casual reader would be so informed (or boastful?) about the pervs anatomy
Deletesexual gratification?...so does that also go for the lesbians who frequent the spa late at night with their date?...or just because Ms. Merager has a penis, she automatically is a pervert?...That is blatant discrimination Jim!...The Los Angeles Times reported that she was actually underwater when she was attacked unprovoked by Cubana Angel when she was just minding her own business. It is hard for people to just accept the truth.
Deletesexual gratification?...simply having a penis does not equal sexual gratification and that was the only complaint that was stated in the video. If the story changed later on to intentionally have Ms. Merager arrested then that person or persons shall be charged with a felony hate crime. We shall see. At midnight at the spa when the lesbians are on their date night I don't see you calling that sexual gratification...that sounds like discrimination Jim. The Los Angeles Times reported that Ms. Merager was attacked unprovoked while underwater and Ms. Merager has paralysis below the waist due to injuries. So you think it is OK to attack people like this who are vulnerable and then call them a sex offender. Sounds more like this person was visiting the spa late at night to avoid crowds and children to get physical therapy for their injuries. Actually sounds like a responsible decision. Nudity does not = sexual gratification. Unless perhaps you are a lesbian on date night or you have fake boobs that are intended for display purposes. I don't think you have thought this out.
DeleteWhere is the sexual gratification?...Nudity does not = sexual gratification. This happened around midnight when many lesbians are there with their dates. Would you consider that sexual gratification?...You sound discriminatory Jim.
Delete