go shopping. >> but could a bunch of kids really break into the homes of paris, lindsay, and our accused burglars are now being treated like stars? >> you're not looking at jail time? >> no. i'm doing great. thank you for asking, though. >> where l.a. confidential meets the hills. welcome to "the bling ring." good evening. welcome to "dateline." i'm ann curry. it's a part of growing up, wanting to imitate your favorite celebrity. but for the teens you're about to meet, police say it wasn't enough to go to the mall and buy an outfit like lindsay lohan's or paris hilton's. these kids actually wanted to wear the celebrities' actual clothes, jewelry and even makeup. police say they were willing to break the law to do it. here's josh maink awits. >> welcome to hollywood, where everything's sped up, overhyped, airbrushed and botoxed. where stardom is spawned by sex tapes, where celebrity and its spoils go to the bold an the shameless. this is where money talks and everything else walks. petty, ego-driven and competitive, it's high school with better lighting. meet the cool kids, movie stars like lindsay lohan and orlando bloom, along with the new "it" girls like megan fox, ashley tisdale. our story is not about the queen bes. it's about the wannabes, those not so cool, not so rich, and not at all famous kids who see hollywood from the outside looking in. and it's out of that sort of envy that the story of "the bling ring" was born. an unlikely collision of unknown burglars and their famous victims. set against the backdrop of l.a., told through grainy video, and some mug shots that don't flatter. we begin with an establishing shot, the hollywood hills, home of the rich and famous. let's start from the standpoint that the hollywood hills are full of expensive homes and on any one day some of them are getting broken into. >> there are a lot of burglaries. again, the crypt goes where the money is. >> our first character, the cop. officer brett goodkin has worked the lapd's hollywood station for six years. how much contact with celebrities is part of that job? >> it's a big part of the job. >> and over the past year or so, goodwin says some of these celebrities railroad finding themselves playing against type, as victims of a series of late-night burglaries. >> just very violating. it's not about the material things and the things that they took because that comes and goes. >> the list of celebrities targeted in a massive burglary ring is growing this morning. >> who was committing the burglaries? maybe drug users seeing random targets of opportunity? or was this an organized team of burglars? >> there was no evidence that we had that suggested that there was a burglary crew working the hills and targeting hollywood's rich and famous. >> so in the beginning the break-ins were all treated as individual cases, assigned to different investigators. there would be at least nine burglaries over about 11 months and the list of victims would look like the red carpet at an awards show. paris hilton, orlando bloom, ashley tisdale, and rachel bill son. megan fox and her boyfriend brian austin green. patrick of "the hills" also made the list. and it was at her house at least that police got surveillance footage of the thieves for investigators it was a promising break in the case. >> anytime you get real clear surveillance images of suspects committing crime it always piques your interest. you're going to look closely, do i know these people? >> the images were clear, a guy with a ball cap and a girl in a white t-shirt. but investigators still had little to work with because they couldn't put names to those faces. >> in this case, they both seem like young offenders. their faces didn't speak to us at all. and contrary to television police shows, there isn't really technology that exists that allows us to deliver surveillance dvd downtown and have a bunch of magical things happen to it and their names pop up on a screen. that doesn't exist. >> and you don't know who they are are. >> you have no idea. >> the loot that went out the door along with the burglars didn't help narrow it down either. stolen items included everything from designer purses, clothes, jewelry, and chanel makeup to cell phones, laptops and other electronics. police say the total haul from all of the houses broken into is somewhere north of $2.8 million. and in case you're thinking, hey, these are celebrities and they can probably afford to lose some of their stuff, think about this -- >> many celebrities lost family heirlooms, pieces of jewelry, art. in most of those cases, they didn't really have much monetary value to anyone else. it wasn't about money. it was about, my uncle gave that to me. the first time i ever got a job as an actor i treated myself an bought myself that, an i really want it back. >> a few months later, yet another burglary. this time the victim was lindsay lohan. and, again, surveillance cameras were with rolling. it's now three people, including a guy in a ball cap. >> for the first time, those images spoke to us because, although there are three offend hes for most of the video their faces are obscured kind of comically with scarves and hats. there are a couple of frames in the video and you look at that, and you say, i've seen that kid before. because we have a good team back there in hollywood, we were with certain among ourselves anyway that the male white offender in both videos was the same guy. >> and that's a huge break. >> it was great information, but we still didn't know who he was. now, the real break came when the stills from those two videos were posted on the internet. that generated phone calls to the department, and that's where the leads started coming in. >> people called and said, i know who that is. as they say around here, we're about to cut to the chase. coming up -- >> i said, it would be funny if we knew them. then, come to find out, we know all of them. >> they were the fast crowd. not in hollywood but in high school. and coming up later on "dateline," a charismatic young pastor counseling couples in trouble and leading the wives into temptation. >> hard to keep that secret? >> terrible. just terrible. it completely destroyed me. >> he had another secret, and it was even darker. "twisted faith". at we'll see wi♪ ♪ explanation [ male announcer ] remember when you were five and anything was possible. ♪ happy 5th birthday again. ♪ come with me and you'll be ♪ in a world of pure imagination ♪ (announcer) not just sinus headache... ahhhh! but pressure... and congestion. introducing sudafed pe® triple action™. for more complete relief from the sinus triple threat. sudafed pe® triple action™. more complete relief. (announcer) we all want to stay active. we don't want anything... ...to slow us down. but even in your 30s... ...your bones can begin to change. overtime, you can begin to have bone loss. calcium and vitamin d work together to help keep your bones strong. and yoplait gives you... ...20% of your daily calcium... ...and is the only leading yogurt with vitamin d in every cup. keep your bones strong every day... ...with yoplait. in the hollywood hills being the lavish home of bold-faced celebrities were being burglarized. police were trying to find out who was behind it. on surveillance tapes being the perpetrators looked like kids. could a ring of young people actually be responsible for the crimes? the answer takes us on location to cal bass is, california, a moneyed bedroom community far from the hills of beverly. a police that's quiet, verging on dull. at first glance, it seems like the complete opposite of hollywood's fast-paced scene. but just over the hill from cal bass is is malibu, and celebrities. if you're 16 and starstruck, that can make cal bass as a hard place to live. cut to our second character, the classmate. >> you're 16 years old, and you see celebrities that have everything, nice cars, cell phones, everything that they could want. >> you see them because you live near them. >> yeah. yeah. you can go to the grocery store and -- i've seen will smith. i've seen tommy lee. i've seen sean astin from "lord of the rings." i ate lunch right next to him at a restaurant. it's common that you see celebrities in that area. >> and you sort of get a peek at what kind of lifestyle they have. >> uh-huh. >> but just a peek. 20-year-old danni moved here from las vegas and quickly experienced a culture clash when she arrived at an alternative high school will in calibasa. she quickly found herself on the outside looking in at a very fast crowd. >> they get what they want, cars, cell phones, all that. >> these are rich kids. >> yeah. >> these are not kids who go out every morning at dawn for their paper route. >> no. no. they have everything handed to them. pretty much. >> we're talking about a crowd of kids that drive, what, bmws and mercedes? >> yes. >> and everybody's wearing the latest fashion? >> yes. >> kids that nobody ever says no to. >> yes. >> officer goodkin who had been investigating the burglaries has seen these kids or ones just like them all over los angeles. he says they like to live large. >> they like to party. they like to spend money. and they like to act like big shots. you know, acting like a big shot, it costs bread. >> in hollywood, we're talking clubs where it costs 35 bucks just to park your ride. it's not enough to just have a drink or two, real players splash out for bottle service which can run $1,000 a pop. it's an expensive lifestyle, and once you've gotten a taste of it, it's hard to go back to the other side of the velvet rope where the losers are. of course, danni lay wasn't part of that group. but when she saw the surveillance video online of the suspects in the burglaries, she also thought she saw something familiar. cops recognized this crowd from other burglaries. danni knew them from recess. what was it about the way they looked that made you think that maybe they were from a crowd that you were so familiar with? >> there was just something about just the way they were sneaking in there, like it was no big deal, like they could get away with it, like almost like they were entitled to get these things from these celebrities. it just reminded me of kids that i grew up with. and i was talking to my friend and i said, that would be funny if we knew them. and then, come will to find out know all of them. >> the first act of this drama had come to an abrupt end. it turned out danni lay wasn't the only one who saw something or someone familiar in the surveillance videos posted online. >> people called and said, i know who that is. those two kids, that's nick prugo, that's rachel lee. they've been bragging about breaking into homes in the hollywood hills. >> nick was 18 careeyears old, middle-class kid in calibasas. >> when first arrested by police, he wasn't very helpful. but a few weeks lairtd, aft s l was released, the officer's phone rang. it was nick prugo as the snitch. >> he called me and he said he wanted to set up a meeting and nick wanted to talk about the crime. >> and you like talking about crime. >> yeah. so it was a match made in heaven. you know, let's get together and nick wants to talk about crimes that you know about and maybe some crimes that you don't. >> nick was offering to help police connect the dots. in doing so, he outlined a crime spree that it lasted almost an entire year. according to nick, his main accomplice was the ringleader, rachel lee, an 18-year-old girl from nick's high school known for her cute clothes and fashion sense. hers isn't the sort of face usually associated with breaking and entering. both rachel and nick were classmates of danni lay's. both were pick up on burglary charges. but they wouldn't be the only ones ro s rounded up. according to nick, the leaders of the gang were a clique of young women. and the supporting cast in this drama was about to get very interesting. a club promoter, johnny ajar, known to his friends as johnny dangerous. an 18-year-old bombshell who just happened to be shooting a reality show. >> i'm ready to move forward. i didncan't wait to enjoy my li again. >> was the motive for all of this about to come clear? maybe it wasn't about the burglars. maybe what they really wanted were the lives their celebrity victims already owned. coming up -- word slips out about the glamor-obsessed gang and their alleged crime spree. shocking? not to everyone. >> she'll do anything to get what she wants. >> when "dateline" continues. ♪ (female announcer) if you want to slim them down, wear them out, or clean them up, you can find exactly what you need during the petsmart solutions sale. save up to 20% on hundreds of items! right now, at petsmart. i was running across the platform and i just missed the it was one oftrain. days. so i checked on the next one. then i get a call from mike at the office. phone: i can't find that sales report, any chance you have it? i wasn't sure, so i checked my work computer...found it...and sent it off... ...and spent the rest of the ride catching up on the news. the iphone saved my day, even before it started. (announcer) we all want to stay active. we don't want anything... ...to slow us down. but even in your 30s... ...your bones can begin to change. overtime, you can begin to have bone loss. calcium and vitamin d work together to help keep your bones strong. and yoplait gives you... ...20% of your daily calcium... ...and is the only leading yogurt with vitamin d in every cup. keep your bones strong every day... ...with yoplait. celebrities were coming home to find their l.a. homes had been burglarized. starlets like lindsay lohan and awe dreen na patridge are accustomed to appearing in the gossip magazines. but now they were victim of a crime spree. surveillance video recorded at their homes led to a tip. soon hollywood detectives found and arrested two suspects, rachel lee and nick prugo. soon nick reached out to brett goodkin of the lapd. he says nick laid out not only his version of a burglary scheme but also a cast of characters that could have been its own reality show. >> we were able pretty quickly to determine who was who in the zoo as it were, whose job was it to do this, whose job was it to do that. and who was involved but not really that much. >> according to nick, rachel lee was the ringleader. just below her were with two sidekicks from school, diane and courtney. there was the local beauty, alexis nyers, and two older ggu bouncer and johnny dangerous who nick says was the fence. danni lay had gone to school with nick and most of the girls and says she wasn't that shocked. she remembers rachel lee liked the finer things. >> i know that she won best dressed a few years in a row. she always had, like, cute shoes, the cute bags, cute clothes. she looked more well put together than everyone else did. >> danni says rachel's friend diana was a good student but to some she acted just like the characters in the lindsay lohan film "mean girls." >> get in, loser. we're going shopping. >> i didn't like her as a person. i didn't think -- i couldn't trust her. i -- she was a mean girl in high school. >> that has a special meaning in today's high schools, doesn't it? >> yeah. >> what is a mean girl? >> liar, backstabber, can't trust her. she'll do anything to get what she wants. >> some of the other defendants said nick was both the boss and the brains of this operation, but based on what she knows, danni lay doesn't buy it. so the nick prugo you knew was not some kind of leader of the pa pack. >> no, not at all. >> when you hear all the other defendants were saying he was the ringleader, this was all his idea, that strike you as plausible? >> i don't believe it. >> who do you think was in charge? >> i don't want to say anything bad about rachel because i didn't know her too well, but if i had to pick one of them, who would be the ring leader, it would probably be her. >> by now, they were known by several names in the tabloid world, including the bling ring and the burglar bunch. and they got plenty of attention. >> they looked very similar to the people whom they victimized, younger, well dressed, well groomed, normal, fashionable people. they looked like they were the cast of a reality show. now, of course, some of them are. >> he's talking about alexis nyers, the 18 career old who's already starring in her own unscripted drama called "pretty wild" on the e network. it was a group of kids who wanted for very little. they had money, clothes, cars, friends. but all of that wasn't enough. police say that what drove them to steal wasn't hardship but, rather, a fascination with celebrities and the lives they lead, along with a bizarre belief that just touching or possessing the valuable items once held by stars they had never even met would somehow make these kids more like the idols they worshipped. >> what is remarkable is that all of them possessed the same disconnect that, i don't want to work for anything. i don't want to get a job. but i want things and i want really, really nice things. and i'm going to steal them and i have no problem, i don't have any hang-ups about taking what i want from other people. >> did this group of young suburbanits manage to crack hollywood mansions for month after month? it's hardly the sort of skill you just pick up at the mall. was there are a secret that literallied the doors of the stars' homes. coming up, a high-tech open sesame and the oh, so casual way the gang is said to have planned its high-profile heists. >> rachel would choose popular female starlets that she liked their clothes. and later on "dateline" -- >> the sessions were something like out of the exorcist. >> dark deeds in a small church. what was happening to these women? a story of "twisted faith". sthoo . i'm just one guy, but when i fill out the census i'm helping to build a better school for pete and jen. i'm improving our roads for mr. grippo's carpool. i'm making healthcare better for - breathe risa, breathe! my census answers help our voices to be heard in washington, so we get our fair share of funding!! the census is 10 questions in 10 minutes. fill it out, mail it back and help make your town better. we can't move forward until you mail it back. 2010 census. ♪ [ male announcer ] what are you gonna miss when you have an allergy attack? benadryl® is more effective than claritin® at relieving your worst symptoms and works when you need it most. benadryl®. you can't pause life. ♪ [ male announcer ] we make them beautiful. ♪ we make them tougher. ♪ we make them legendary. we make them better... ♪ to make your life better. ♪ and we've never made one... quite like this. the 100% electric nissan leaf. ♪ the gossip magazines, the web sites and the paparazzi are together part of a machine, breathlessly chronicling every bit of hollywood nightlife from dusk till dawn and then all day long. they keep careful track of every celebrity's every flirtation, every change of mood, every change of clothes. does that help the stars? in some cases, sure. in others, maybe not. but in this case that machine may have helped the burglars pull off their jobs every step of the way. which brings us to the action sequence, the heists. according to court documents, this was oceans 11 meets 7-eleven, part caper, part quick-st quick-stop shopping. first, according to nick, rachel lee would look at celebrity magazine as if browsing a catalog, picking out accessories and jewelry that caught her eye. early in the case, sean aaron stof represented prugo. >> rachel would choose popular female starlets whose clothes she liked. that's pretty much how the sites were chosen. >> next the burglars had to learn when the targeted star's home would be empty. according to officer brett goodkin, that wasn't so hard to figure out. >> the criminal knows, hey, i know that jos