Burglaries are down, but Fairfax Co. police are warning about this organized theft group
Burglaries are down in Fairfax County, but police officials say a well-known organized theft group is still causing issues in the Northern Virginia suburb and across the D.C. region.
During a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, Police Chief Kevin Davis said the so-called South American Theft Group “remains a challenge for … really every community east of the Mississippi.”
As part of a Safety and Security Committee meeting, Davis detailed a series of crime trends, including declines in sex offenses, homicides, aggravated assaults and motor vehicle thefts in 2024 compared to 2023. Shoplifting, though, increased 17.7% over that period, Davis said, touting positive shoplifting declines in Tysons.
There were 10 fewer residential burglaries in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same time in 2024, according to data — marking a decline of over 22%. But, Davis said, the South American Theft Group still has a presence in the region.
“They’re organized,” Davis said. “They are increasingly using women to perpetrate these burglaries.”
Members of the group will knock on a door or ring a doorbell to see if anyone is home, Davis said. Then, “they’ll commit the burglary, typically from an elevated second story or above platform. So we’re still seeing that exist,” he said.
Despite the trend, Davis said he’s encouraged by support from federal prosecutors in the FBI Washington Field Office in the Eastern District of Virginia.
“They are taking on more and more of a crime that they used to not touch with a 10-foot pole — residential burglaries,” Davis said.
“If they can prove that there’s some nexus to crossing jurisdictional boundaries, some nexus to coordination and fencing, they’re as interested as ever, which is good news for local law enforcement to take on some of these cases.”