Man accused of stealing $100K of professional camera in rental scam arrested in Burbank
The Brief
Ryan Levon Roman is accused of stealing professional camera equipment in a rental scam.
In one case, Roman allegedly didn't pay the rental fee, and removed a tracking device hidden in the equipment.
The stolen equipment is worth thousands of dollars, and police believe Roman may have scammed others across LA County.
LOS ANGELES - Police arrested a man accused of stealing professional camera equipment he had agreed to rent, and officials think other people have fallen victim to the scam.
What we know
Ruoyu Li and Yang Fei are just two of Ryan Levon Roman's alleged victims. The couple owns a camera rental business. In January, they rented equipment to Roman.
Roman rented two Tokina zoom lenses and an Arri Alexa 35 camera package, premium cinematic gear that Li said is worth more than $100,000.
The couple said Roman agreed to pay them $600 a day for two weeks. But the money never came, and Li and Fei said a tracking device hidden in the equipment was removed.
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What they're saying
"He was a real smooth talker," Li said of Roman. "He was talking about hiring me."
"At first we blamed ourselves really hard," Fei said. "We thought we were so stupid, making this mistake, but then we learned, he's a convicted felon he will always have a way to trick us."
Dig deeper
Fei soon realized they weren't alone, saying she had found other victims in Orange County, Long Beach and more. Some of the stolen equipment has turned up on pawn shops, the couple said, but their equipment hasn't turned up.
On Wednesday, Burbank Police arrested Roman in another similar case, going back to December 2024. Detectives believe there are many more victims.
Officers said Roman was on probation for other thefts in Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office charged Roman with one count of grant theft. He's being held on $75,000 bail.
The Source
Information in this story is from a Burbank Police Department press release and interviews with Ruoyu Li and Yang Fei.
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