Bling Ring

The Bling Ring, sometimes referred to as the "Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch", "The Burglar Bunch", or the "Hollywood Hills Burglars", were a group, mostly comprising teenagers based in and around Calabasas, California, who burgled the homes of several celebrities over a period believed to have been from around October 2008 through August 2009. In total, their activities resulted in the theft of about $3 million in cash and belongings, most of it from Paris Hilton, whom they robbed several times. However, over 50 homes were targeted for potential burglary. Nancy Jo Sales, who covered the story for Vanity Fair, called the events "completely unprecedented in the history of Hollywood".^[1]^[2]^[3]

Ring participants

Rachel Lee

The alleged ringleader of the group, Lee is the daughter of divorced immigrant Vickie Kwan, originally from North Korea,^[4] and David Lee, originally from South Korea.^[5] Both parents own successful businesses. Lee lived in Calabasas with her mother, who owns a franchise of Kumon, a tutoring company. Her father is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lee and her older sister Candace had a privileged upbringing, and she drove a white Audi A4 to school, where she was named "Best Dressed" in the 2007 yearbook. When she was in her early teens, her mother remarried, but she and her stepfather did not get along.^[3] She attended Indian Hills, an alternative school, because she had been expelled from Calabasas High School, and upon graduating was awarded a creative arts scholarship. A year after graduation, she was fined and put on probation for a petty theft incident in which she and Diana Tamayo stole $85 of merchandise from a Sephora.^[6] According to Prugo, Lee was obsessed with reality television.^[7] Towards the end of the crime spree, Lee moved to Las Vegas to live with her father, which is where she was eventually taken into police custody. Alexis Neiers and Prugo’s former lawyer, Sean Erenstoft, claim Lee was a kleptomaniac.^[8]^[9]

Nick Prugo

Nicholas Frank Prugo^[10] was reported to be a shy and friendless teen prescribed Concerta for ADHD and Zoloft for anxiety, who was transferred to Indian Hills high school after being expelled from Calabasas High School for excessive absences.^[7] ^[11] His mother, Melva-Lynn, runs a dog walker service,^[3] and his father is a senior vice president at IM Global, a film and television sales-and-distribution company, most widely noted for being the foreign sales agent for the film Paranormal Activity. In 2003, Prugo had a role as "Kenny" in Little Lost Souls: Children Possessed, a made-for-TV quasi-documentary about the exorcism of children whose parents believe them to be possessed by evil.^[3]^[12]

Lee befriended Prugo after he arrived at Indian Hills, and introduced him to most of the other people who would eventually join the crime spree.^[7]^[11] The two initially bonded over their love of fashion, and Prugo claims to have been infatuated with her. After being accepted into her circle of friends and participating in their nightlife activities, Prugo became hooked on drugs, and began stealing from his parents to support his addiction. Their first home robbery together occurred during the summer after tenth grade, when he claims that Lee suggested they rob an acquaintance from Woodland Hills whom Prugo knew to be out of town at the time.^[4] Prugo claims to have been reluctant, but didn’t want to risk losing her friendship.^[1] During that first burglary, they discovered $8000 in cash hidden under a bed. They split the money, and the next day went on a shopping spree on Rodeo Drive. Prugo and Lee began checking the doors of expensive cars parked in their neighborhood, to see if they were unlocked, on an almost nightly basis. They would take credit cards found in the cars, and go shopping the next day in areas like Melrose Avenue. They would be dressed well, and according to Prugo, merchants never questioned their use of the cards.^[11]

Alexis Neiers

Neiers, a reality TV starlet, had been part of Lee’s social circle at Indian Hills. At one point, she was kicked out of her home by her mother for, according to police, smoking OxyContin, which she denies. Prugo took her in, and she claims that although she knew her circle of friends were committing the crimes, she only became inadvertently involved when, while drunk, she unknowingly accompanied Prugo to what turned out to be a burglary of Orlando Bloom’s home. She claimed that police searched her home and found nothing.^[6] However, police reported that they found stolen items in the possession of Neiers, her sister Gabrielle, and their live-in friend Tess Taylor, and that she was caught on camera leaving the scene of the crime with stolen bags in her possession.^[4]^[13]^[14]^[15] She initially denied any wrongdoing, but later changed her plea in court to guilty.

Diana Tamayo

Diana Tamayo was, in 2008, the student body President at Indian Hills, where she had been voted "best smile", and been awarded a $1,500 "Future Teacher" scholarship after graduation. She was also known for getting into fights, and according to police was an illegal Mexican immigrant. However, she was apparently affluent enough to own a Lincoln Navigator. Along with Lee, she had been fined and put on probation for engaging in petty theft.^[3]^[6]^[13]^[16] According to Prugo, her entire wardrobe consisted of stolen items. Her small size was utilized during one robbery in which she gained the group access to a home by crawling through a dog door.

Courtney Ames

Courtney Ames, whose stepfather is boxer Randy Shields, was a Calabasas High School student and an "old friend" of Lee’s.^[16]^[17] It was through Ames that the others met Lopez and Ajar, her boyfriend.

Johnny Ajar

Ajar, a former convict nicknamed "Johnny Dangerous", is not believed to have participated in the burglaries, but was recruited by Ames, his girlfriend, to sell some of the stolen items for cash. He was raised in housing projects around Reseda, outside of the group’s community, the son of a father who was a career criminal and drug addict. He had previously spent 2 years in federal prison, having been convicted for drug trafficking in Wyoming at age 22. Ajar first met Ames and her friends at a nightclub called The Green Door, and allowed them access even though they used fake IDs. At the time of the burglaries, he worked as a promoter for club Les Deux Café.^[10]^[11]^[16]

Roy Lopez Jr

Lopez and Ames had worked together at a restaurant and bar in Calabasas. Ames had recruited him as a reseller, and he also participated in burglarizing at least one victim, Paris Hilton, from whom he is alleged to have stolen $2 million in jewelry, which he carried out with him in a Louis Vuitton bag.^[4] He was unable to sell off most of it.

Reported victims

Victims were targeted due to their being considered fashion icons by members of the group. Their primary targets were female, having been chosen, in the words of Prugo, "mainly because [of] women wanting women's stuff".^[18] If the members liked a celebrity’s style, they became determined to steal the celebrity’s clothes.^[16] Lee referred to their capers as "going shopping".^[7] They found the houses of their targets using Google Maps and website celebrityaddressaerial.com,^[4] and determined when the inhabitants would be away by researching their schedules, such as appearances at celebrity events, through websites including Facebook and Twitter.^[6] When Lee wanted to add to her wardrobe or more cash was desired, a burglary would be undertaken.^[18] The LAPD report later stated that what began as a "twisted adventure" fueled by celebrity worship "quickly mushroomed into an organized criminal enterprise." In the words of Neiers, Lee "was so manipulating, so conniving. Nick always did what she said. Rachel was in charge. She started it all."^[13]

Paris Hilton

For their first celebrity target, Prugo claims that he and Lee asked themselves "who would leave a door unlocked? Who would leave a lot of money lying around?", and chose Paris Hilton because they figured she was "dumb".^[19] On their maiden trip to Hilton’s home, Prugo and Lee went alone, having used Google Earth to find a place to access her community via a hill climb.^[18] They went up to the front door and tried ringing the doorbell to see if anyone was there. They discovered a key under the doormat, but then realized it wasn’t needed because the door was unlocked. Once inside, Prugo served as a lookout near the stairs while Lee went into the bedroom and searched through Hilton’s belongings.^[11] Prugo and Lee, later accompanied by other members of their group, ended up robbing Hilton at least 5 different times, mostly of designer clothing and cash. However, it wasn’t until Lopez single-handedly stole nearly $2 million in jewelry from Hilton that she reported having been burgled.^[13] Antics during the Hilton robberies included snorting cocaine which Prugo claims they found inside the residence. According to Ames, at one point Prugo discovered that he could fit into Hilton’s footwear, and did a "victory dance" wearing a pair of her heels.^[9]

Audrina Patridge

The ring burgled the home of Audrina Patridge the night of February 22, 2009, the date of that year’s Academy Awards ceremony. They accessed her home in Hollywood Hills by entering through an unlocked door, and took jewelry, her passport, her laptop, and bespoke-tailored jeans. The value of what they took was estimated to amount to around $43,000.^[11] Lee and Prugo were recorded on Patridge’s surveillance videos, which she uploaded to her website. Despite the videos being posted, the burglaries continued.^[13]

Rachel Bilson

Rachel Bilson’s home was burgled by the group three to six times during April and May 2009, amounting to between $130,000 and $300,000 of stolen property. Prugo claimed to have always been very nervous during the burglaries, but said that Lee was always very calm and focused—so much so that during a burglary of Bilson’s home on May 9, Lee went into Bilson’s bathroom and had a bowel movement.^[11]^[20]

The Bilson burglaries yielded so much in the way of clothes and accessories that members tried to relieve themselves of some of it by selling it at the Venice Beach boardwalk, where they were able to make a few thousand dollars.^[5]^[11]^[21]

Orlando Bloom & Miranda Kerr

Orlando Bloom’s home was targeted by the ring on July 13, 2009, due to the presence of his live-in girlfriend, Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr, whose lingerie Lee wanted.^[4] Prugo, Neiers, Lee and Tamayo accessed the premises by cutting through a security fence. Once inside, they found and stole a large amount of high fashion-label clothing, as well as Bloom’s Rolex watch collection, Louis Vuitton luggage, and artworks, all totaling nearly half a million dollars. Bloom’s prized 1950s Rolex Milgauss alone accounted for around half that amount.^[15] Neiers, who denies having gone there knowingly, claimed to have been drunk at the time, and was reported as having gone outside to vomit and then urinate in the bushes. Tamayo and Lee went back inside because the latter was planning to move to her father’s home in Las Vegas, and wanted Bloom’s art to decorate with.^[4]^[6]

Brian Austin Green & Megan Fox

Brian Austin Green’s home was targeted because, according to Prugo, Lee liked the clothes of his live-in girlfriend, actress Megan Fox. While there, the group also found and took Green’s Sig Sauer .380, a semi-automatic handgun, which police later found in the possession of Ajar.^[4]^[5]^[16]

Ashley Tisdale

Actress Ashley Tisdale’s home was burgled by the group on July 1.^[22]

Lindsay Lohan

Even though by August 2009 Lee had moved into her father’s place in Las Vegas, she felt compelled to return to California for yet another burglary, the target being Lindsay Lohan, who was apparently Lee’s "ultimate fashion icon" and "biggest conquest". On the 23rd, Lee, Prugo and Tamayo allegedly stole around $130,000 worth of clothes and jewelry from Lohan’s home in Hollywood Hills. According to Prugo, Tamayo and Lee were "freaking out" over Lohan’s things. By that time, they were well-publicized criminals at large, and Prugo was especially worried about the burglary, knowing that if they were captured by surveillance cameras stealing from the star’s home, the footage would be widely seen.^[5]

Arrests, criminal proceedings, and other subsequent events

An unidentified tipster informed police that Lee and Prugo were responsible for the Lohan burglary. Prugo’s face had been captured on surveillance at the home, and the police determined through Facebook that Lee and Prugo were friends. Prugo was arrested, and initially denied having had anything to do with the burglaries, but said that anxiety due to his involvement was preventing him from being able to eat, sleep, and breath normally, and made him lose his hair.^[4] He confessed to the police without first getting a plea deal, telling them about crimes they weren’t even aware had been committed. He also told them that other potential targets were still being researched by the ring, among them Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, Hilary Duff, and Vanessa Hudgens.

Two weeks after Prugo’s confessions, search warrants for the other ring participants were issued by the LAPD.^[5]^[10]^[23] Lee, Tamayo, Ames, Neiers, and Lopez were all subsequently arrested for their connection to the burglaries.^[6] Lee was taken into custody while at her father’s home in Las Vegas. Police reported that she calmly asked them hypothetical questions about how it might help her if she did in fact have information and shared that information with police. Their report stated that she clearly believed she’d removed all incriminating evidence from her home. However, cops found a coat identified as belonging to Lohan, and topless pictures of Hilton which had been left in an unlocked safe in Hilton’s home. Seeing this, Lee is reported to have instantly turned hysterical, acting as though she were suddenly sick, and gagging as though she were going to vomit.^[5] Other items reported to have been seized from Lee were a jar of marijuana and more than $20,000 in $100 bills.

People magazine reported that the members of the ring except for Lee were booked for residential burglary, with bail set at $50,000, while Lee was held for "possession of stolen property", with bail set at only $3000.^[6] However, writer Nancy Jo Sales reported in Vanity Fair that Lee was charged with residential burglary for the Lohan, Hilton, and Patridge heists.^[5] At the time of the arrests it was unclear whether the robbery of Bilson, and other robberies of Kourtney Kardashian and Hayden Panettiere had been committed by the group. Among items reportedly seized by police from Ajar were three guns, drugs, and a laptop with aerial photos of 51 homes in Hollywood Hills.^[24]^[25] He was thus charged with additional offenses related to weapons and drug possession. Whereas Lee was reportedly sentenced to three counts of residential burglary, Prugo was charged with seven, each count carrying sentences between 2 and 6 years.^[1]

All members initially pleaded not guilty. Neiers, however, after learning that Bloom would be called to testify against her, agreed to plead no contest to residential burglary, and was sentenced to a jail term of 180 days, with an additional three years of probation, as well as being ordered to pay $600,000 worth of restitution to the actor.^[14] After serving 30 days of her jail sentence in the Century Regional Detention Facility, she was released.^[26]