Two East Bay residents face three years in state prison after they pleaded guilty to robbery charges related to retail thefts in 2021 and 2022.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Thursday that Delandro Belvine-Brown, 22, of Antioch, and Sean Raquel Jevonce Simon, Jr., 24, of Richmond, were sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to committing a series of retail thefts in San Francisco.
Belvine-Brown and Simon are currently in custody and will be transported to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s custody to begin serving their state prison sentences.
“These crimes demand accountability and we need to send the message to others involved in this criminal enterprise that, with the support of our local law enforcement partners, our office will continue to pursue and prosecute those involved,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins in a statement. “With San Francisco Police Department receiving $15.3 million dollars and our office receiving $2 million from the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program, law enforcement agencies in San Francisco will continue to identify, investigate, and prosecute all levels of this criminal enterprise.”
Prosecutors alleged that Belvine-Brown and Simon were part of an organized group that committed snatch-and-grab thefts and robberies from Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters, and Veo Optics stores in San Francisco from Nov. 1, 2021, through July 1, 2022.
The group would enter targeted stores, quickly grab numerous expensive sunglasses, exit the store and into a waiting car.
Investigators from SFPD and Brentwood Police Department conducted a joint investigation as there were similar thefts that occurred in Contra Costa County.
Investigators from both agencies examined evidence from multiple sources, including store surveillance videos, social media posts, and mobile phone records to identify the defendants and their criminal activities.
“Individuals who openly commit egregious and brazen retail crimes impact not only the store’s viability to stay open for their community, but also have long lasting effects on store employees and customers who are subjected to this blatant disregard for the law,” said Assistant District Attorney del Rosario in a statement. “These cases should serve as notice to those would-be thieves that law enforcement will aggressively investigate and prosecute their criminal activity in San Francisco.”
Assistant District Attorney Conrad Del Rosario successfully prosecuted the case against Belvine-Brown and Simon with support and assistance from District Attorney Inspector Lessa Vivian and Paralegal Chloe Mosqueda. This case was investigated by the San Francisco Police Department’s Burglary Unit and the Brentwood Police Department’s Investigation Division.
