SANTA ANA, Calif.—A convicted burglar and robber was charged Tuesday with a string of robberies and thefts from Target and Nordstrom stores in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin, La Habra, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Irvine, and Aliso Viejo.
George Carter, 41, was charged with three counts of robbery, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, a dozen counts of grand theft, all felonies, as well as two misdemeanor counts of petty theft and resisting arrest.
Carter is also facing multiple sentencing enhancements for committing a crime while out of custody on bail in a separate case. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana and was scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing Sept. 24 in the West Justice Center in Westminster.
Co-defendant Celest Kimah Talimalie is charged with one felony count of grand theft.
Carter is also charged in separate cases with false personation, car theft, buying or receiving a stolen vehicle, and burglary, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of identity theft, falsely representing himself to an officer, possession of burglary tools, possession of a controlled substance, and receiving stolen property.
The most recent robbery was at the Target at 26762 Portola Parkway in Lake Forest, investigators said in court papers.
A woman asked an employee to unlock an electronics display to view some items before Carter approached, shoved the worker and grabbed products valued at $3,178, investigators alleged.
The unidentified woman left the store with Carter, but Irvine police later tracked down the vehicle they were in, and when officers stopped the driver, he got out and ran away, but was caught, investigators said.
Carter “is a career criminal and is a known-identified suspect with about 30 open cases for burglary, robbery, and grand theft all throughout north and south Orange County and the Inland Empire,” investigators alleged in court papers.
The defendant also “has an extensive criminal history in the states of Nevada and Missouri,” investigators alleged.
Carter pleaded guilty in January 2003 to carjacking and robbery and was sentenced to four years in prison. Carter pleaded guilty to burglary in February 2011.
