A group of seven teenagers and young adults based in and around Calabasas California, convicted of multiple thefts. They broke into the homes of several high-profile celebrities over a period believed to have been between October 2008 through August 2009. Their activities resulted in the theft of about $3 million in cash and belongings. Much of the stolen property belonged to socialite Paris Hilton, whose house was broken into several times, though over fifty homes were reportedly targeted.
Rachel Lee – the supposed ringleader of the group. Nick Prugo, Alexis Neiers, Diana Tamayo, Courtney Ames, Johnny Ajar and Roy Lopez Jr.
From 2008 to 2009, HollyWood suffered from one of its biggest heists to date, but the masterminds weren’t high-profile criminals. Instead, they turned out to be a group of attention-seeking teenagers and one young adult. This group included Rachel Lee, Alexis Neiers (now Alexis Haines), Nick Prugo (now Nick Norgo), Tess Taylor, Diana Tamayo, Courtney Ames, Johnny Ajar, and Roy Lopez. The fame-seeking group spent nearly a whole year breaking into the homes of some of Hollywood’s most elite and stealing an array of items like clothes, shoes, purses, and even drugs.
The juicy catch? The teens weren’t stealing to sell off the items and become rich, but rather to try to become celebrities themselves. They were so enamored by the idea of stardom that they stole items from the mansions of these celebrities all in the name of fame. Not only did they keep the items they stole, but paraded around L.A. confidently wearing all of these designer things. Imagine a real-life Ocean’s 8, but the thieves hijacked Paris Hilton’s mansion.
October 2008
Alleged mastermind Lee and Prugo teamed up for their first celebrity burglary at Paris Hilton’s home. When they arrived at the front door, the door was unlocked and they invited themselves inside. Considering this was their first major robbery, the pair only stole a small number of items consisting of clothes, jewelery, and some cash found inside the purses in her closet.
Though this was the first time the duo had taken from a celebrity home, that is not to be confused with Lee and Prugo being novices in robbery itself. Lee already had a past history of stealing before befriending Prugo. After becoming friends, the pair fell into various bad habits with one of the said habits being stealing money from unlocked luxury cars. They had also committed a residential burglary before breaking into Hilton’s home.
The robbery took place at the home of one of Prugo’s online acquaintances who posted that he was going to be out of town for 11 days. After sneaking in, Lee and Prugo stole a cash box from the master bedroom that had around $38,000 inside. Paris Hilton was a constant target of the Bling Ring bunch.
December 19, 2008
Lee and Prugo had gotten so comfortable with stealing from the Hilton’s mansion that they came back multiple times. The second time they went, the door was locked but Lee had found a key under the doormat. Their comfortability was so high that kept the key for future purposes.
Prugo and Lee typically stole some clothes and whatever cash they could find in her bags, but eventually no more cash was to be found. To still receive their payday, Lee recruited Lopez for the last robbery from Hilton. The burglary took place in mid-December of 2009, and around $2 million dollars worth of jewelry was ransacked from Hilton’s house.
Prior to this event, Hilton hadn’t even realized that her home was being stolen from, but millions of dollars worth of jewelery being taken was the eye opener she needed. Hilton’s security tape caught Lopez in the act, but his face was not recognizable. The cops were called immediately, but ultimately the police had no big leads and no arrests were made.
February 22, 2009
The teens broke into the home of Audrina Patridge and stole a reported $43,000 worth of items. Partridge’s security camera caught the whole break-in on tape which she turned over to the police to help unveil the identities of the culprits. The footage was posted online via TMZ, hoping that someone knew who these teens were and could be identified. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, and the robberies continued on.
April-May 2009
The hustle didn’t stop for these stardom-obsessed criminals. For every house they broke into, their egos only grew and their confidence was at an all-time high. The ring eventually robbed the home of The O.C actress Rachel Bilson. This occurrence happened six times within the months of April through May in 2009. The group collectively stole around $130,00 worth of valuables including her mother’s engagement ring and Bilson’s passport. The group had gotten so comfortable breaking into Bilson’s home that Lee had later confessed to using Bilson’s bathroom during one of their plunders.
Additionally, in May 2009 Neiers and her family started the filming of their show Pretty Wild. The premise of the show was supposed to be similar to Keeping Up With The Kardashians, but a more hippie version. Reality TV was the way to fame in this era, and the Neiers family was willing to do anything to get there.
July 13, 2009
Prugo, Neiers, Lee, and Tamayo showed up to the Hollywood Hills with Orlando Bloom’s home next on their hit list. According to Neiers, though she was aware her friends’ did shady business, she did not realize the extent of their crimes and had not been involved in any of the other break-ins up to this point. She also claims that she was so under the influence of drugs during the Bloom burglary that she wasn’t even fully present. The group broke into the property and robbed over $500,000 worth of items from the British actor. Clothes, jewelry, Louis Vuitton , and a whole line of Rolex Watches were all up for grabs.
August 26, 2009
The ring’s era of burglary officially came to end after breaking and entering the home of Lindsay Lohan . Tamayo, Lee, and Prugo had stolen around $130,00 worth of jewelry, clothes, and valuable items from Lohan’s house. It was Lohan’s security camera that was able to stop the group in their tracks after finally having further facial features unveiled. Lohan’s footage along with Patridge’s security camera from earlier that year, combined with anonymous tips from TMZ, helped the police get closer to uncovering who was involved. However, in the new Netflix documentary, Neiers reveals it was her and her sister Tess Taylor, unbeknownst to anyone in the group, who called the police and gave them Prugo’s name.
September-October 2009
After a year of invoking chaos, fear, and paranoia among the Hollywood stars, arrests were finally made after the police figured out the individuals involved. On September 17, Prugo was the first one to be arrested where he initially stayed silent and denied all accusations. After his lawyer assured Prugo that he had an immunity deal with the police and that he would walk away with no jail time if he confessed everything, Prugo gave a detailed account to the police of every break-in, who was involved, and what they took. However, according to prosecutors and officers, no immunity deal ever existed.
On October 22, search warrants were issued and the rest of the ring was officially arrested. Six of the eight members were charged with various counts of residential burglary. Prugo was charged with seven counts, Lee with three counts, Tamayo with two counts, and Neiers, Ames, and Lopez were all charged with one count. Ajar was not charged with residential burglary, but he was later arrested for possession of narcotics and firearms.
2010-2013
The court cases had commenced. Over the next few years, the group faced the consequences of their actions and sentences were finally given. Neiers’s legal team strategized to take the case to trial, confident with the defense they had. However, it was revealed that Bloom was open to taking the stand, leaving Neiers (and the others) with practically no hope of winning or receiving a minimum punishment.
Neiers pled no contest to the charges and was given six months of jail time, three years probation, a two-year sentence suspension, and paid restitution to Bloom. Ultimately she only spent a little over a month in jail. Lee pled no contest to her charges and was sentenced to four years in prison—though she only served 16 months after being granted parole in March 2013.
Prugo pled no contest to two of his counts and was sentenced to two years in prison. He was released early in April 2013 after serving one year. For Ames, Tamaya, and Lopez, the prosecution was ready to go to trial, but a conflict of interest arose with the investigator (he was hired as a consultant on The Bling Ring film). As a result, the remaining culprits were given a light sentence. Ames was sentenced to three years probation and 60 days of community service. Tamayo was also sentenced to three years of probation and 60 days of community service after pleading no contest. Lopez was sentenced to three years probation after pleading no contest to his count. Ajar pled no contest to his charges and was sentenced to three years of jail time, but was eventually released early after serving a little less than a year in jail.
In the midst of all the court proceedings and the aftermath of the whole debacle, Vanity Fair released an article written by Nancy Jo Sales. Sales had interviewed Neiers with Neiers under the impression it was going to be a piece that spun her in a positive light. The article actually gave a whole run-through of the heist story and alluded to Neiers as the face of the ring even though her involvement was relatively minimal compared to Lee and Prugo.
March 2010
Alexis Neiers’s TV show Pretty Wild premiered on E! Entertainment. Originally, the show was meant to focus on the life of Neiers and her family as they navigated life in Hollywood. However, from the first episode, it documented the arrest of Neiers, though she wasn’t officially charged with a sentence yet. For most of the season, Pretty Wild was predominantly centered around Neiers’s legal troubles. The show didn’t last long and was shut down after one season.
Tess Taylor and Andrea Arlington.
June 2013
A move about the bling ring hit the big screen, and this time it was a major success. Directed by Sofia Coppola, The Bling Ring starred Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Claire Julien, and Taissa Farmiga. Even Paris Hilton paid her contributions to the movie by allowing Coppola’s crew to film in her actual house for one of the scenes. For all the success of Coppola’s version, it was also met with some backlash for failing to emphasize the severity of the situation.
September 2022
Netflix has claimed official rights to the story and has released the docuseries, The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist. Unlike the movie adaptations, the Netflix series provides first-hand accounts and personal interviews with two of the culprits, one of the victims, and multiple lawyers that were involved in the case. This will be the first time that the members of the ring will get to speak on their own behalf and recount their version of the story.
Tbh this whole thing is scandalous and some of the members got the fame they wanted but other are gone under the radar. The movie is iconic I love it and even though Pretty Wild had one season on E I still rewatch it time to time.
Anyways that’s the story of The Bling Ring pretty much I know I didn’t cover any of the court stuff but that’s for another time.
therealhilt0n.com 