Two East Bay men charged in a string of mall burglaries in the South Bay were arraigned in San Jose Tuesday.
Raheem Lewis, 22, and Dwayne Huntley, 19, are accused of stealing 17 pairs of Gucci and Burberry sunglasses from the Sunglass Hut at Valley Fair Mall on Nov. 21.
Prosecutors allege just two days later the two stole nearly $3,000 worth of merchandise at the Oakridge Mall Macy's and went back to Valley Fair and stole $2,600 worth of perfume. That's when police arrested them.
They were arraigned remotely from Elmwood Correctional Facility. They were both released on house arrest and required to wear a GPS monitoring device until their next court date.
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Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Erin West said the two may also be connected to the recent retail theft at the Lululemon store in Santana Row.
"Investigators are very busy going through all kinds of electronic data and all kinds of evidence and trying to determine who was involved in what offenses," West said. "We saw references to the Lululemon thefts within their texts."
Prosecutors say the men are part of a much larger crime ring.
"These operations are working in a way that they're going after high-end consumer good that will resell for lots of money," West said. "Fences in San Francisco are looking for these high-end goods and these crews are coming in to Santa Clara County to grab them."
West said sometimes they are even given a so-called shopping list for specific items.
