SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Two East Bay men were convicted in connection to a series of smash-and-grab robberies in San Francisco, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday. Delandro Belvine-Brown, 22, of Antioch, and Sean Raquel Jevonce Simin Jr., 24, of Richmond, were each sentenced to three years after pleading guilty in SF Superior Court.
Belvine-Brown and Simon were part of an organized group which committed a series of smash-and-grab robberies at SF retail businesses that included Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters and Veo Optics. The thefts occurred between Nov. 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, the DA said.
The group Belvine-Brown and Simon were part of employed a “consistent brazen theft strategy,” according to the DA. The two men and their accomplices would enter stores as a group, rapidly grab numerous expensive sunglasses from display shelves and exit the stores quickly before departing in an awaiting getaway car.
SFPD investigators along with the Brentwood Police Department conducted a joint investigation due to similar thefts in Contra Costa County. Investigators examined evidence from multiple sources, the DA said, including in-store surveillance videos, social media posts and mobile phone records.
During the course of the investigation, Simon and Belvine-Brown were identified as the suspects.
“Retail theft continues to have a major impact on San Francisco’s business community and the city’s economic livelihood. These crimes demand accountability and we need to send the message to others involved in this criminal enterprise that, with the support of our local law enforcement partners, our office will continue to pursue and prosecute those involved,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “With San Francisco Police Department receiving $15.3 million dollars and our office receiving $2 million from the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program, law enforcement agencies in San Francisco will continue to identify, investigate, and prosecute all levels of this criminal enterprise.”
Belvine-Brown and Simon are in custody and will be transported to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s custody to begin serving their sentences in state prison.
