A celebrity-obsessed group of rich reform-school girls allegedly waged a yearlong, A-list crime spree through the Hollywood Hills — ripping off millions in cash and jewels from mansions of such stars as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, it was revealed yesterday.
The teens had a simple strategy. They allegedly looked up their celebrity targets’ addresses, property images and schedules on the Internet to plot their heists, according to People magazine.
PHOTOS: TEENS BEHIND CELEB CRIME WAVE
The jobs include a $2 million jewelry heist at Hilton’s sprawling home last December. The heir-head had left the front door wide open.
On Aug. 23, they allegedly pulled off a break-in at Lohan’s place, where $128,000 in cash and designer clothes were stolen.
The crew is also believed responsible for a July 16 theft at “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Orlando Bloom’s pad, where some $500,000 in jewels and art were taken, and a Feb. 23 heist at the home of “The Hills” star Audrina Patridge, where $43,000 in jewels was stolen.
Cops also are reportedly eyeing the group for burglaries at the homes of Rachel Bilson of “The O.C.” and Hayden Panettiere of “Heroes.”
The gang’s alleged mastermind, 18-year-old Rachel Lee, was busted at her father’s Las Vegas home Thursday.
Cops there seized “laptops, photographs of a partially nude woman, photographs of Lee’s friends, more than 200 $100 bills, a Korean passport and a vial of marijuana,” according to TMZ.com.
Authorities also found a series of items linked to the crimes, such as Lohan’s hat, Bilson’s jeans and “partially nude photographs linked to Paris Hilton,” the site reported.
After Lee was busted in Vegas, she at first denied knowledge of the heists, KVVU-TV reported. But she then allegedly told cops: “Hypothetically, let’s say I might know where this property is located and who has it. How could this help me?”
Lee is a graduate of the Indian Hills HS for troubled teens in the posh LA suburb of Calabasas, along with alleged cohorts Courtney Ames, 18, Diana Tamayo, 19, and Nicholas Prugo, 18, who was arrested earlier in the week.
“Wow, no kidding. Does it surprise me? Not really,” said one of Ames’ neighbors, who wouldn’t give his name. “She was always looking for trouble and always looking to fall into the wrong crowd.
“It was like she was looking for trouble,” the former pal told The Post.
“People would make fun of her. She alienated herself on purpose.”
Another busted member of the crew, Alexis Neiers, 18, is the sister of Playboy model Tess Taylor, according to reports. The siblings were working on a reality show — and Taylor showed up at the jail Thursday night with a camera crew to capture Neiers, Tamayo and Ames walking out.
Tamayo was once a standout student.
According to The Acorn newspaper, she was class president of Indian Hills HS in 2008 and won a $1,500 “Future Teacher” scholarship.
Lee, Ames and Neiers have been freed on $50,000 bail each, while Tamayo remains in custody on an immigration hold.
All were arrested on suspicion of burglary, though none has yet been formally charged.
Another Calabasas man, a bartender named Roy Lopez, 27, also was arrested in connection with the spree, police said.
Prugo is the only suspect formally charged. He was slapped with two counts of first-degree burglary for the Lohan and Patridge heists and freed on $100,000 bail. He faces six years in prison.
After his arrest in September, rumors surfaced that Prugo and Lohan knew each other. Lohan refused to shoot the rumors down.
A major break in the case came when security cameras at Patridge’s LA home captured a young man and woman on the property.
“I got home late last night and realized that my house had been robbed. It was pretty devastating!” Patridge wrote on her Web site after the crime.
Lohan’s home was burglarized while she was out at a birthday party. She came home at 3 a.m. to find that “the safe was ripped off the wall, and the door was off the hinges, and door handles were removed . . . Bags, shoes and jewelry were taken,” her mom, Dina, has said.
Last night, Hilton’s spokeswoman said she had most of her $2 million in valuables returned — and that she couldn’t be happier.
“Paris went to the police station last night to retrieve her stolen belongings,” her publicist, Dawn Miller, reportedly said. “She didn’t get everything but fortunately most of her jewelry was returned. She’s really pleased and thankful to the LAPD for their help.”
Additional reporting by Tori Richards in Los Angeles