A couple was charged Thursday with stealing $50,000 worth of guitars from a storage facility in Irvine.
Derek Allen Dodds, 34, and Brittney Christine Patterson, 27, both of Yucapia, were charged with grand theft, receiving stolen property and burglary, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor possession of burglary tools, according to court records.
The 21 expensive guitars were stolen from the Extra Space Storage business on Laguna Canyon Road on Oct. 3, said Kim Mohr of the Irvine Police Department.
Irvine detectives found one of the stolen guitars being sold online and set up a meeting with the seller, Mohr said.
On Tuesday, the investigator met with the seller at the Ontario Mills shopping center and when the suspects were busted, police found three of the stolen guitars in their vehicle, Mohr said.
Police also have surveillance video from the storage facility showing the suspects taking the guitars, Mohr said.
San Bernardino County sheriff's investigators found 11 of the other guitars while executing a search warrant in an unrelated case, Mohr said. So far, police have tracked down 18 of the 21 stolen guitars, she added.
Police suspect they were involved in two other thefts at Irvine storage facilities in July, Mohr said. In one of the thefts, a safe containing collectibles was taken from an Extra Space Storage facility at 20 Post, Mohr said.
In the other incident, the suspects rummaged through a storage space but nothing was taken, she said.
