Anaheim police have accused two 19-year-olds of posing as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a pair of robberies last week, targeting Hispanic victims before they were arrested in Fullerton the same day.
Police said Laurentiu Baceanu and Vasile Alexandru identified themselves as ICE agents when they robbed at least two people in Anaheim over less than an hour in the early evening of Thursday, June 20.
Officers pulled over both men in Fullerton when they spotted their vehicle, an Audi Q7 SUV, and arrested them.
As of the morning of Monday, June 24, both men were still being held in jail without bail. A spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s office has not responded to a request for comment.
Anaheim police accused the men of approaching the victims and presenting a badge identifying themselves as ICE agents. They said the men spoke Spanish to the victims before demanding property from them.
Officials said they believe the pair were involved in multiple other similar robberies in Anaheim and beyond, including across “the Western United States.”
Police said they believe the men were driving two different vehicles while committing similar robberies: the Audi they were pulled over in as well as a Volkswagen Atlas SUV.