More Teens Sought Through 'Selfies' in Mansion 'Ghost Host Party'
Stuffed snow leopard and suit of armor among stolen items.
Dec. 12, 2013— -- Police are looking through Facebook "selfies" to track down as many as 100 teenagers who invaded a Los Angeles mansion for rave party and allegedly stole $1 million worth of items ranging from a suit of armor to a stuffed snow leopard.
So far 16 people have been arrested.
"It is an ongoing investigation so we'll hopefully make some more arrests," Lt. Arthur Scott of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told ABC News.
Police say over 100 teens crashed the $7 million mansion for a party that was organized through social media.
"It was advertised on Twitter and Facebook," Scott said. "They referred to it as a 'ghost hosted' party. That's basically a party thrown at a residence where the owners are not at home or gone out of town."
Police said that one of the teens collected entrance fees as more and more people showed up to party at the 9,000 square foot villa.
"They were actually bragging about the party, showing themselves within the residence, showing themselves carrying some of the stolen property," Sheriff's Capt. Tim Murakami said at a news conference Wednesday.
So far 13 juveniles aged between 15-17 have been arrested. Three were females. Three others who were 18 have also been arrested.Police booked the teens for a range of crimes including burglary, grand theft and trespassing.
The teens pried open a window to enter the property.
"There's like an underground grotto, which had like a 16-foot window looking into the pool. Somebody actually broke that window and shattered it, and we're amazed that no kid got killed," Murakami said.
The mansion's owner, trucking magnate, Nick Radoi, who made the news last September when his yacht struck Balboa Pier, is no stranger to parties. Radoi hosted and videotaped an extravagant affair posted to YouTube last year featuring a bevy of bikini-clad women and fast cars to the tune of a techno soundtrack.
But Radoi was in Europe when the teens broke into the home on the evening of Nov. 23. During the course of the rave which continued into the early hours of Nov. 24, police said the teens tweeted selfies, which are now included among key evidence detectives compiled over their two week investigation.
Scott told ABC News that while "ghost hosted parties" were popular in other areas, it was the first time he'd heard of it happening in this area.
The mansion is located on the 1700 Block of Chota Road in the city of La Habra Heights, where there are only two other houses on the remote hillside block.
Neighbors told ABC7 they heard music and saw cars parked up and down Chota Road that night, but that kind of activity was not unusual for the residence.
It was a groundskeeper or house-sitter who reported the party to authorities. Police said the property's security cameras had been turned off.
"From my understand the security system wasn't really state of the art and it was deactivated," Scott said. "The home is for sale and I'm surmising that the security system was turned off because visitors were coming in and out."
"It is an ongoing investigation so we'll hopefully make some more arrests," said Scott.
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