19-year-old broke into women's apartments in Irvine, stole their underwear, police say

IRVINE, Calif. (KABC) -- Residents at Park West Apartments in Irvine describe the community as calm and mellow.

Guadalupe Sosa has lived here for two years and has never had any issues.

"The police are always on it," she said. "If anything happens, they bring out the whole squad and it just makes me feel safe because they automatically deal with it."

Residents recently received an email alerting them about a string of burglaries at the apartments this summer. Sosa has been extra vigilant ever since.

"I'm not scared myself because I don't know, I'm just like the 'Try me' type, but I do keep my windows locked more excessively," she said.

After months of investigating, the Irvine Police Department arrested 19-year-old Trung Thuan Tran, a resident of the community, for burglary.

"Detectives believe he was targeting apartments occupied by younger females and he has opportunities to enter these residences through either unsecured doors or windows," said Kyle Oldoerp with Irvine Police.

Tran is accused of breaking into at least one home while a young woman was sleeping. He allegedly stole their undergarments, cash, small items and credit card information.

Tran was arrested after using the stolen information to make online purchases.

Oldoerp encourages people to take precautions.

"We definitely recommend securing downstairs windows," he said. "Even if there's a screen on them, a screen is not going to keep suspects out. In this case, the suspect did remove the screen to gain entry into the apartment."

Residents like Sosa are doing what they can to protect themselves.

"I bought myself some boxing equipment," she said. "I'm going to learn because it's just me and my children, so I need to learn something for self-defense."

So far, Tran has been linked to one burglary case but investigators believe he may be connected to others.

They're urging anyone with any information to call police.