Prolific ‘wedding crasher’ thief targeted festivities across California, police say
A notorious wedding crasher — accused of targeting festivities in California and beyond — has been captured after he was spotted at the airport, San Francisco police said.
Mario Hernandez, a 58-year-old from Lancaster, was detained at San Francisco International Airport just before 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 22 after officers saw him going into a bathroom and recognized him from a crime bulletin, the San Francisco Police Department announced in a news release on Tuesday.
Hernandez is suspected in “numerous thefts” in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles region, police said.
He “seemed to travel frequently” and stole laptops, cellphones, purses, wallets and credit cards, according to police.
Hernandez also targeted events other than weddings, police said.
There are warrants for Hernandez’s arrest in Nevada, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and he “has been arrested under 21 different aliases since 1980,” police said. Recent assumed names included Pedro Barcazar, Luis Amezquita-Torres and Pedro Ojeda.
He was booked at Redwood City’s Maguire Correctional Facility after his detention last week, facing charges of burglary and grand theft in addition to outstanding warrants, police said.
“While an arrest has been made in this case, anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD 24 hour tip line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD,” police said in the news release. “You may remain anonymous.”
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Prolific ‘wedding crasher’ thief targeted festivities across California, police say."
