Police are appealing to the public for information about a man suspected of defrauding numerous camera rental companies in the Los Angeles County area.
Ryan Levon Roman is accused of operating a rental scam in which one couple was swindled out of an Arri Alexa 35 camera and two Tokina zoom lenses worth more than $100,000.
After arriving at Ruoyu Li and Yang Fei’s camera rental store in January, Roman told them he was a cinematographer and needed to hire equipment for an upcoming documentary.
“He was a real smooth talker,” Li tells Fox 11. ” He was talking about hiring me.”
Roman agreed to pay $600 per day to rent the equipment but the money never materialized and he didn’t return the premium moviemaking gear. A hidden tracking device secreted in the equipment was removed by Roman.
“At first we blamed ourselves really hard,” Fei says. “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.”
Li and Fei later discovered that other camera rental companies in the Los Angeles area had also fallen foul of Roman. The couple say that initially police were unwilling to help, telling them it is a civil case.
But yesterday Burbank Police announced it has arrested Roman on a similar offense and is now seeking more information to build a case against him. Burbank PD revealed that Roman was already on probation for previous thefts but was out of compliance with his terms of probation as of August 2024.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has charged Roman with one count of Grand Theft, which is a felony. He was arraigned at Burbank Courthouse and remains in custody with a bail set at $75,000.
“If you have any information about Roman’s involvement in similar cases within the City of Burbank, please contact Detective Arias at (818) 238-3010,” a press release reads. “If you are aware of similar incidents outside of Burbank, please contact your local law enforcement agency.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
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