Fame, Fortune and Felony (2022) - full transcript
The biggest night in Hollywood
is Oscar night.
Those are real movie stars.
A star is somebody who really
has studied their craft,
being super-talented for acting,
singing.
These are artists and stars.
Celebrities are like our royalty.
I think certain people do have that
special something
that's unique and magical.
I think there's a difference
between star and celebrity.
Celebrities,
you're famous for being famous,
you're popular,
but there's no real talent.
In the 2000s, reality TV
and social media
has made celebrities
very accessible to everybody.
You were gaining instant access
into these people's lives
that you never had before.
Anyone can be a celebrity,
but it takes something special
to be a star.
Every celebrity
with even a hint of fame
is invited out to one party
or another on Oscar night.
We just thought the young reality
starlet type
would be more prone to maybe leaving
something unlocked than a star.
Oscar night, being around the
corner,
seemed to be one of the best nights
to...
HE LAUGHS
..commit a burglary!
So in the beginning of 2009,
to make sure that, you know, that
Rachel and I weren't,
you know, exposed in our burglary
with Paris Hilton,
we would, you know, monitor sites
like TMZ constantly,
and after about a week or two of not
seeing anything on those sites,
we knew we were in the clear.
So, um... we for sure were like,
"We can do this again, no problem."
MUSIC: Unwritten
by Natasha Bedingfield
# The rest is still unwritten... #
The Hills was a reality show
and it was just, like, being young
and hot and single in LA.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Show me that dress!
Rachel really, really liked
Audrina Patridge's style.
So she asked me, you know,
to do my thing.
You want to break into
a Hollywood mansion?
Step one, locate the address.
Step two, Google Maps.
It was in the hills in Hollywood.
Next - when will that house
be vacant?
The TMZ website did that work
for us.
She's going to be out at some
sort of party on Oscar night.
Make a note of the camera positions,
but don't act suspicious.
We weren't concerned with anybody
being able to identify us.
We weren't in the system,
our mugshots aren't there,
our fingerprints aren't there,
we're like ghosts.
We had our gloves and our, you know,
a couple of tools.
Rachel and I approach
Audrina's house.
DOORBELL RINGS
We ring her doorbell.
No one was home.
Let's do it.
I have not been back into this house
in six years,
and there's just an overwhelming,
overwhelming emotions
going through me right now.
Before I was famous,
my home was like my
private sanctuary.
After I was famous,
I was so used to filming in my house
all the time, it felt like a set.
There was just that
uncomfortable vibe.
Why wouldn't you just talk
to me about it? Like, obviously...
My life was an open book.
I actually had just got back
from Australia,
and I went on a huge shopping spree
where I spent so much money
at Maxfields with this stylist
and then I went to an Oscar event.
I came home after,
and I went to go in my suitcase
and my suitcase was gone.
And I looked in my jewellery box
and everything was gone.
Someone's been in my house.
What if someone's in the house
and they're like, they're in
the other room?
I was thinking,
"They're going to kill me."
I locked myself in my closet.
I was the most terrified
I've ever been in my entire life.
So there's a moment in every story
when we first meet the nemesis.
And it's important to give them
a good establishing
character moment.
So here's a retired LAPD officer
sitting down on a chair in slow
motion.
My name is Greg Kading.
I'm a retired Los Angeles police
detective.
Over the course of my career,
I investigated just about every
imaginable crime
from petty theft up to serial
murders.
And I worked burglary
for a period of time.
It's somewhat unusual for
a celebrity home to be targeted.
You know, it used to be,
the king lived in the castle.
You don't get to see him,
but you know he's there.
Now you get to live
with celebrities, you know,
you're in their homes
and they're telling you
the most intimate details
of their lives.
But in the domain of their home,
that is their sanctuary.
These are victims of crime.
I'm going to find out who these two
people are, and they're going down.
Miss Patridge provided
surveillance video.
It's just sickening to watch.
Rachel and I went around to
the side gate. It was open.
We walked up the hill,
and we were in her backyard.
We noticed sliding glass doors.
It just opens, like "Oh, my God,
you're fucking kidding."
Like, really? Another unlocked
door. You know, you're excited.
You know, what are we going to find?
Companies and brands would just send
you boxes of stuff
in the hopes that you'd wear it on
the show.
Clothes, boxes of shoes, purses.
But also they took sentimental
things
that were passed down from
grandmothers and great grandmothers.
It was like they went shopping
in my closet.
We felt slick, proud of ourselves
that we just committed another
burglary successfully
and got away with it, essentially.
And we're not stealing
from the poor.
It just changed everything
from that point forward.
It definitely made me more guarded
and not trusting of anyone or
anything.
They needed to be punished.
If you have CCTV
of young people committing a crime
and you're trying to identify them,
it's always a good idea that we
appeal to an audience
that was in
kind of that age range,
so then it raises the question,
how do you do that?
To me, 2006 through 2009
was by far definitely
the golden era of gossip.
All of America was obsessed
with materialism, celebrity.
It was a great way to escape.
Things started shifting
from people buying the magazines at
the checkout stands
at the grocery stores
to just going online.
People didn't want to read about it
a week later in a magazine.
I can upload an image or a story
within minutes of it happening.
You were gaining instant access
into these people's lives
in a way that you never had.
So you have this huge pressure on
being in the right place
and wearing the right clothes
and having the right lifestyle.
It was the beginning
of influencing, essentially.
Um, I call myself
the original influencer.
Websites like mine inspired
the folks behind TMZ
to launch that website.
TMZ, an online newsroom with
the very latest celebrity news.
Does being a celebrity have anything
to do with talent any more?
Not necessarily.
It has to do with exploiting
the moment.
TMZ appealed to
a younger generation,
so it would make sense to give TMZ
the first look at the CCTV
in order to get these individuals
identified.
Shortly after the Audrina burglary,
I was constantly monitoring TMZ.
Fuck. My heart sank into my stomach.
I got the chills.
I was pacing all around my room,
I couldn't sit still.
It seems that everything related
to this woman is caught on tape.
Even when her house gets robbed,
we've got video.
It was everywhere,
their faces were everywhere.
I thought we were fucked. I thought
we were going to get caught.
Hey, guys, I hope you enjoyed
that montage of LA.
So you would think I'd now react
to Nick being all over the news,
but in reality, I didn't actually
see it.
I was far too busy manifesting my
Hollywood career with my mom.
My chief aim in life
is to strive to express greater
and greater portions
of my potential as a professional
who is enjoying a successful career
working in the film industry.
The dominating thoughts in my mind
will eventually reproduce themselves
in outward physical action
and gradually transform themselves
into physical reality.
The affirmation was to have
a successful career
in the entertainment industry.
We had been doing the affirmation at
this point for a while,
and then all of a sudden...
PHONE RINGS
I got a phone from this producer
Dan Levy
and he's like, "Can I talk
to Andrea?"
and I was like, "Yeah, this is me."
Dan was just, like, an actor
for a film that Tess
and I were doing called Frat Party.
We told Dan that we're all
about manifesting
and we're going to, like, make it
big in Hollywood and yada yada.
And he said, "Would you be
interested in shooting a pilot
"for a reality show?"
And I was like "Oh, no, no, no, no,
that's not what I'm interested in.
"I'm interested in doing
real acting."
My mom was pretty excited about it.
I have no recollection
of her being like, "Now, girls,
I don't think so."
He said, "Yeah, but wouldn't it
be great
"if you could teach the law of
attraction on national television?"
And I was like, "Well, yeah, that
sounds really good to me", you know?
So we started to film for
the pilot in May.
Gabbie, it is time for school.
Hi, I'm Andrea.
Put that away.
This is not OK with me at all.
I am the mother of three wild
and crazy kids.
Gimme a kiss.
ELECTRIC ZAP, BOTH YELP
They had this vision
which was a hippy version
of the Kardashians, right?
I am getting back exactly what
I dished out, except in threes.
Let's do the frequency machine
on you.
I had them all evaluated
and they were told they had ADHD,
and so every morning
I give the girls Adderall.
Girls, it's time for your Adderall!
Our jaws just dropped, like,
"Oh, my God, that is awesome."
I mean, it was exciting
and a great fun idea,
but I think you'd probably have
a greater chance
of winning the lottery
than you do of getting
your own reality show on E!
After the Audrina burglary,
all the news channels had ran it
and it was over.
Cos news, you know, there's always
something better the next day.
I was like, "OK, what's next?"
And so eventually,
we chose our next victim.
MUSIC: California by Phantom Planet
# California, here we come... #
Rachel was an avid watcher
of the OC.
It was about a bunch
of rich high school kids
living the dream lifestyle.
Come on, let me buy you lunch.
My dad gave me his credit card
in case of emergencies,
and, well, this is an emergency. OK.
Rachel Bilson was known for being
a bit of a fashion It girl,
the most serious actress thus far.
We were slowly moving up.
All right, you know the drill.
When will that house be vacant?
She was going to New York
for a fashion event.
Remember to stick
to your normal routine.
You don't want to arouse suspicion.
The night she was out of town,
we were actually out
at a party that night.
Remember to keep a clear head.
I was maybe a little more drunk than
normal, so I did a bit of coke,
sobered myself up, if you could call
it that.
I was driving along at, like,
80 to 90, like, speeding.
SIREN WAILS
A cop saw us, I get lit up behind
me. We were like, "Fuck."
If you run into a cop,
lean on the coke.
It'll make you appear sober.
The cop comes up, you know,
"What are you doing tonight?"
and I was like "Oh, you know, I'm so
sorry I was going a little fast."
And he's like, you know,
"Don't let it happen again"
and just, you know, "Have a good
night." I was like, "Great."
We get to Rachel Bilson's house.
Rachel Bilson burglary marked.
So we found a window which was
unlocked. We were inside.
Welcome to Casa Fantastica,
the perfect sanctuary away
from the outside world.
In LA, your house is your
business card.
Your style of your home
tells a lot about you.
It was very cute. It was like
a Spanish style of Los Feliz.
Is it Los "Fel-eeze" or Los Feliz?
In the heart of Los Feliz,
a dramatic living room
features a captivating stained-glass
window and Saltillo tile floor.
Two-storey, wrought-iron staircase.
We both walked up stairs,
located the bedroom.
That's when Rachel's eyes just...
She had nothing that
was not designer.
Oh, hey, welcome back,
what can I help you with today?
Designer bags are
the biggest status symbol.
Certain designer bags are worth
more than actual gold.
So much Chanel, I mean,
and Chanel purses are, like,
so expensive.
It's a Chanel bag,
you have made it.
We were getting more comfortable.
Rachel had to use the restroom,
so she uses the restroom.
It was quick. It was like
a sneaker poop, you know.
Because that's evidence.
No, yeah, of course she flushed!
The next day...
PHONE BUZZES
..I was on BBM with Alexis.
We were hanging out more and more.
You know, I was drawn to her.
She definitely was looking to be in
the Hollywood scene in some fashion.
That's kind of what I was looking
for at that time in my life,
I wanted to feel like somebody.
In total, we probably partied, like,
five or six times,
and I had a fun time.
I mean, he was just like
a valley kid, right?
We got drunk, we got fucked up,
we drove home.
Us with, you know,
getting closer and being pretty
close at that point...
PHONE VIBRATES
..I arranged to meet up with them.
I went over there with the stuff.
I said, "OK, girls, you know the
drill,
"look into the trunk
and see what you like."
I never knew, I guess,
how to make genuine friendships
and connections without showing off.
I was trying to buy a friendship, in
a sense.
When I woke up,
I came out of my room.
Tess was there with Gabbie
and they had suitcases
full of clothes.
And I was like, "Whoa, where did you
get all these clothes?"
Um, hello?
She knew exactly where
the clothes were coming from.
Since Paris Hilton's house,
they had received the leftovers
of whatever no one else wanted,
essentially.
No. It wasn't like,
"Here's Nick, the robber of Paris
Hilton
"who's got, you know, millions
of dollars of jewels."
Like, it wasn't like that.
Then Andrea popped in
and she's like...
"Girls, what is going on?"
My mom asked, "How did you get all
of this stuff?"
Tess said, "Oh, from our friend
Nick, he's a stylist
"and he's just loaning us this stuff
for right now."
Alexis, you're insane.
At that time, we were hanging out
with lots of people in the industry,
so I didn't think twice.
The girls got to use these clothes
to do photo shoots
to enhance their portfolio,
so I was OK with that.
Andrea legitimately thought I was
a stylist.
Tess and Alexis obviously knew
I wasn't.
I offered Andrea a bag
and I could tell she got excited
because I think, you know,
she's a little vapid.
That was just not my style.
But I was trying to be gracious
and kind
and I was like, "Well, thank you,
that's very nice of you."
I was excited about new clothes
and cute stuff to wear out.
I felt accepted.
They were popular
and they took me under their wing
and it was a confidence booster.
But I would shortly thereafter find
out that Nick wasn't a stylist,
that Nick had stolen the clothes
and that he was involved
with all of these burglaries.
The personal impact on victims
of burglaries
is sometimes overlooked.
The property taken sometimes
is irreplaceable.
In the case of Bilson,
we know that her mother's engagement
ring had been stolen.
I've heard it said, "They're
wealthy celebrities,
"they can afford
to lose these things."
Or, "Hey, they didn't lock their
doors,
"you know, it's their fault."
We have to stop looking at
the victims as being responsible.
The perpetrators,
they had no regard
for these people as human beings.
You can just kind
of hear them giggling and laughing.
And they're also emboldened
to continue
to commit these crimes even though
they know
that their images have been captured
and publicised.
They probably have no idea as to
the seriousness of their crime,
and they don't recognise
the potential danger to themselves.
I will concentrate my thoughts
for 30 minutes a day
on the task of thinking of
the person I intend to become.
My daily life has
a never-ending vacuum
for new opportunities
to emerge in the
entertainment industry.
My name is Gennifer Gardiner.
I'm an executive producer,
show runner.
My name is Amber Mazzola and
and I, er, ruin people's lives!
Well, Kardashians was a huge
success,
so I think everybody wanted their
three sister shows
and these girls were very open
and they were trying
to break into Hollywood.
So that was the premise
originally, right?
These girls are on their way
to being famous
and I've got to be watching them
every step of the way.
And so it is.
ALL: And so it is.
Woo!
We heard back from
E! Entertainment
and they were interested in picking
up the show.
I mean, we went from being,
"Well, maybe this will happen,
maybe not" to all of a sudden like,
"This is really happening."
So, we showed up at
the production company for our show.
And Tess showed up with Nick Prugo.
When you're developing
a show, there's A characters,
B characters and C characters,
so Nick was one of the options.
At that age, the idea of having
or being a part of some reality show
is awesome.
So I was excited.
I mean, it was exciting.
My first impression was,
they were very sweet.
I thought they were outgoing,
which is always good for
a television show.
Our concern was, "What story
are we going to tell here
"and what are we following?"
So Alexis and her family could sell
a good story, right?
She's like,
"He's my gay best friend,
and that's how they were trying to
sell me,
as if that's gonna be a quality
for a character on the show.
But I was just coming
into my sexuality
and kind of getting comfortable
with it.
I certainly wasn't ready
to be this flamboyant personality
that I think they wanted me to be.
It was honestly so bad that they
were like,
"He can't be here, we can't do
this."
I was disappointed in myself
for not being able
to deliver a character.
So it just further, I guess,
confused me even more.
I just, I was super-uncomfortable.
I didn't know who to be.
I think people definitely have
star qualities.
I think out of the bunch,
Alexis probably had that.
I agree. I think Alexis was the one
that I came away from
the meeting as the star.
They wanted to be famous,
and I don't think they cared
honestly
how they were going to get famous,
but they wanted to be a Kardashian.
It wasn't about fame,
it was simply about doing
what I know I loved doing,
and that was being on camera.
That appeal for fame,
for me, was validation.
To feel like somebody cared,
for once.
We were all having fun living
a life that was playful
and we were a very connected family,
that's what the filming showed.
Now, the truth of the matter was,
there was a lot of fractured energy
between all of us.
Life at home with my mum
was chaotic.
She was super-controlling,
super-shaming
and her mental health
really impacted
the overall health of our home.
I mean, you don't call your daughter
a cunt,
you just don't.
I was a narcissistically driven
woman during those years
and so my way of being in
a relationship with other people,
including my daughters, was to sort
of make them dependent on me.
I mean, I was smoking weed with
the girls back then, totally.
Like, it was all about them not
abandoning me.
Tess and Gabbie had been
out partying
and I got a call from them saying,
"Where are you right now?
We're going to come pick you up."
Tess and I were
the ones who brought Oxy
to my sister, actually,
for the first time.
Her and I tried it at some kid's
house in the valley that she knew.
Tess and Gabbie pulled out this foil
with this pill on it,
and I didn't even think twice.
I was like, "This is it?"
The feeling of doing Oxy for
the first time
was like the warmth
in the hug of a loving parent.
It was this feeling that it's all
going to be OK.
I didn't know that Oxys were
so addictive, and I hated it.
I don't like the feeling
of being numb to the world.
Oxycontin is a very strong opiate.
I would equate it
to heroin in pill form.
I was not capable of stopping.
They were doing some drugs that
I wasn't ever familiar with,
my drugs of choice
were hallucinogenics and cocaine.
And it was scary to me.
I was like, "Wait a minute,
"you guys are talking about doing a
reality show,
"everybody better pull their shit
together and, like, behave."
Our addiction got crazy,
so she asked Tess to leave
and I followed suit.
My parents went out of town
and I had the house to myself
and I invited her to, you know,
stay with me.
Hi, Nicky, I'm recording you.
Hot bitch.
The teenage boy.
After a lucky late night,
that's where the craziness
went down.
This is when Alexis first expressed
interest
in becoming a part of it,
because according to her words,
you know, "I want first choice."
"I don't want Rachel's
hand-me-downs", essentially.
I don't recall having any
conversation with Nick like that.
Um, I know what happened, you know?
So anyway, this was me and Rachel's
thing.
I didn't really want to expand
the enterprise.
I think I was smart enough
to realise, you know,
the more people that know,
loose lips sink ships.
So it was onto the next.
PAPARAZZO: Orlando! Orlando!
I remember this one pretty well.
Orlando Bloom was a megastar.
huge blockbuster movies,
the highest profile person
that we had targeted thus far.
He was working on some movie
at the time.
Open house.
I was supposed to initially just go
with Rachel.
Alexis begged me to go.
I wasn't saying, "Hey, Nick, next
time you rob a house, involve me."
But I was open to the idea of
robbing a house
to get money for drugs.
Rachel wanted to bring
her friend Diana.
I felt, like, a little traded in,
like she traded me in for
a different model.
But you know, if you're going to
bring Diana,
then I'll bring someone else in.
I'll bring Alexis, even though
I'd been avoiding it, you know.
So, um, begrudgingly, I brought her.
Like, I remember bits
and pieces of what happened,
but not all the way through
because I was under
the influence of opiates and benzos.
HE LAUGHS
Alexis was not out of it.
Alexis was more than sober
and more than aware.
We meet Rachel and Diana outside
of Orlando Bloom's house.
Did you know you were going over
to Orlando Bloom's house?
That night, no.
I wasn't aware of whose house it was
that night.
Alexis was very much aware that she
was outside Orlando Bloom's house.
No.
Oh, well.
I remember there was a camera
in the tree by the house.
We had already been on camera
with Audrina Patridge,
so we walked backwards,
obscuring our identities,
and we approached the gate.
At that point, I had to pee.
There was no pee.
I did pee.
She jumped through that fence,
you know, like Wonder Woman.
There was a sliding door
that opened.
We all split up
and started shopping.
Alexis started bagging up shit
for herself.
Rachel and Nick just had
this confidence,
but I was like "Oh, fuck, this is
real, I'm in someone's house."
She was happy to do it.
"I'm gonna barf."
There was definitely,
you know, a bit of the wow factor.
I think I even did throw up.
It's such a crock, the version of
events I hear from her.
I didn't come here
to, like, save face.
I came here to be honest
and to move on.
Whatever. I went to his closet,
just took a ton of his clothes.
Um...
"Oh, fuck,
if I get caught, I'm screwed."
All of a sudden I hear,
"Oh, my God!"
Big score. Like, ten Rolex watches
and, like, five grand in cash in
an envelope.
The adrenaline had really kicked in.
It just seemed all very stepped up,
less of a fun little mission
to more of a serious criminal job.
We didn't tell Alexis about
the Rolexes and the cash
because we didn't wanna share them
with her,
because we didn't want her
there anyway.
I grabbed a Louis Vuitton
computer bag
and I grabbed a black sequin dress.
We started making our exit out of
the house.
In and out. On this kind of high.
Drove home.
PHONE RINGS
One night I'm at home
and I get this call,
and it was Alexis
and she said, "Mom, I need to come
home,
"Nick is into some stuff
with some other kids
"that is really scary to me."
I said, "OK, come home."
INTERVIEWER:
She did not go into any detail at
all
but it felt dark,
it felt very dark.
Thank you, Orlando.
Thank you very much.
Sorry about your break-in.
REPORTER: A group of teenagers broke
into the home of Orlando Bloom,
stealing designer clothes,
cash and his vintage
watch collection.
The Orlando Bloom case came into
the same division
where Audrina Patridge's case
was being handled,
and the same type
of items are being stolen.
Now investigators had potential
serial burglars.
We call that an ongoing
criminal enterprise,
and it becomes more recognised
and ultimately more serious.
It just takes this to
a different level.
We felt like criminals in
the most chic way.
We felt like we were these, like,
maybe sexy bandits
committing these intelligent cat
burglaries.
Like in a movie.
We wanted to be our own celebrity,
just using other people's shit.
Orlando Bloom,
he had great style,
which worked out great for me
because he was like my size.
I wore these clothes because I
wanted to be looked at and seen
and
I want to have that attention.
By 2009, social media was still in
its infancy,
and more so than reality television.
Social media really birthed this
entire class
who were taking control
over their own narrative.
Social media has changed everything.
It's democratised fame.
MySpace was really ground-breaking.
I mean, you were really able
to personalise a page
that you tried
to have represent who you were.
MySpace is like the prototype
for Facebook.
For young kids who don't feel
comfortable in your skin yet
and you want to be, like, in
the know, it's highly addictive.
We're constantly being bombarded
with images of our friends
and families and celebrities
living these seemingly perfect
lives,
and it's just human nature
to compare ourselves to others.
I wanted people to want what I had,
kind of like how I wanted
to have what the celebrities had.
When you look at people's lives on
social media,
you're looking at a fabrication.
You're presenting your best image
to show
the world how great you're doing.
You would post albums just full of,
you know, 100 photos,
of just like,
"This was my night out."
I'd never had that feeling
of feeling good in my own skin.
It felt great,
it was a nice feeling.
I finally felt
like this is who I wanted to be.
We heard back from
E! Entertainment
and they were interested in picking
up the show.
This felt like, "Wow, we're going
to do this, this is it."
We were in such bad
financial straits
and this was the one thing that
promised to be a saving grace.
E! gave us an offer
we couldn't refuse.
A $50,000 signing bonus,
and around $100,000 for
the season, each of us.
We were gonna do the first episode
and then we would go from there.
They started kind
of distancing themselves.
I think a part of them thought they
were, you know,
on a different level now and they
didn't really need me any more
now that they had this show.
You know, it bothered me.
They had their own income
that was about to start flowing in
and they were flying high,
you know, literally.
I went from feeling like a nobody to
a somebody really quick.
We were gaining access
to a scene that we never had before.
Tess worked a glamorous
Playboy shoot
and she met Kid Rock.
Which was pretty fucking cool,
to be honest.
Tess and I were invited over
to his house
and there were the coolest group
of people there.
TI was there,
Cindy Crawford
and some of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers were there.
It was like a dream.
And I spent the night talking
to this man
who was one of the biggest actors
in Hollywood, ever.
We were in the bathroom,
some of us were,
and this actor, he started to do
this monologue in front of us
that was so profound.
I was like, "Wow."
There are certain people
in the world
that just have that special
something, and he had it.
At that point, they were
disappearing
for a couple of days at a time,
taking private jets
with much older men.
I didn't care because I had done
the same things
and it was fun and it was exciting
for them and... whatever.
Alexis didn't
want to rob any more and I just,
I mean, at least for me, I...
I almost didn't know how to stop.
By not committing crimes any more
and, you know, essentially losing
that lifestyle
I would not be able to afford
this illusion that I'd created.
And that's scary, you know.
So, you know, I kind
of just went back more with Rachel.
Lindsay Lohan is facing new
legal troubles.
Lindsay Lohan. Lindsay Lohan.
Lindsay Lohan.
So, if 2008 to 2010 had a face in
LA,
it would be Lindsay Lohan,
a movie star.
One of the most popular celebrities.
Front page, every day.
For those who care, actress Lindsay
Lohan is in trouble again.
Crashing her Mercedes. DUI...
And cocaine in her possession...
Rehab.
She was badass and what Rachel
and I were doing was badass,
so on some level
I kind of wanted to emulate that.
I eventually found her address.
We could have this one last hurrah.
So, Lindsay Lohan was out 24/7.
We for sure thought she was out.
It was Rachel, Diana and myself.
We got through the gates.
We knew there were cameras.
I had kind of like a scarf, like,
half-assed laid over my head
with a hat.
However, I didn't,
I didn't feel comfortable.
There was no exit behind
the house to the back yard.
It dropped off a cliff.
Lindsay could be home at any minute.
I was more uneasy than usual.
But Rachel and my friendship had
solely become based on, you know,
committing burglaries,
so essentially by stopping,
I'd be ending the relationship
with Rachel.
We boosted Diana into a window.
Diana went in and unlocked
the door.
I'd never seen a house
with so much stuff.
Diana and Rachel,
their heads exploded.
You know,
they didn't know where to begin,
what to take, what to do.
It was like hoarder's luxury.
There was the awe,
you know, factor of it all.
I said, "Let's hit it," we left.
My car was stuffed.
Officer, do you have a suspect
already?
As a result of the Lindsay Lohan
burglary,
security camera footage was able to
provide
really good facial features of
the perpetrators.
So now the investigators recognise
the Lohan case and the Patridge
case, it's the same people.
So, once again approached TMZ.
I was doing my usual checks,
and that's when...
More articles started coming out
comparing the two videos.
Holy shit.
Alexis said, "It's Nick Prugo, Mom.
"Look at the news, he's wearing
the hat that he always wears."
We were all kind of like,
"This is bad.
This is really fucking bad."
I instantly went into paranoia mode,
so what I did just to protect myself
was move all of the stolen property
from every burglary I had
to a storage facility
at my grandmother's.
My... heart has always wanted
to tell the truth.
I've always carried around guilt
for what I did.
So, Tess and I made a call to
the Hollywood police department
and we named Nick.
If they had told me that they were
going to do that,
I would have said that it was stupid
and they shouldn't do that.
They were basically telling
on themselves.
The investigators simply logged onto
Facebook,
they went to Nick Prugo's
Facebook page,
looked at his profile picture
and said,
"Well, what do you know? It
looks like that guy."
is Oscar night.
Those are real movie stars.
A star is somebody who really
has studied their craft,
being super-talented for acting,
singing.
These are artists and stars.
Celebrities are like our royalty.
I think certain people do have that
special something
that's unique and magical.
I think there's a difference
between star and celebrity.
Celebrities,
you're famous for being famous,
you're popular,
but there's no real talent.
In the 2000s, reality TV
and social media
has made celebrities
very accessible to everybody.
You were gaining instant access
into these people's lives
that you never had before.
Anyone can be a celebrity,
but it takes something special
to be a star.
Every celebrity
with even a hint of fame
is invited out to one party
or another on Oscar night.
We just thought the young reality
starlet type
would be more prone to maybe leaving
something unlocked than a star.
Oscar night, being around the
corner,
seemed to be one of the best nights
to...
HE LAUGHS
..commit a burglary!
So in the beginning of 2009,
to make sure that, you know, that
Rachel and I weren't,
you know, exposed in our burglary
with Paris Hilton,
we would, you know, monitor sites
like TMZ constantly,
and after about a week or two of not
seeing anything on those sites,
we knew we were in the clear.
So, um... we for sure were like,
"We can do this again, no problem."
MUSIC: Unwritten
by Natasha Bedingfield
# The rest is still unwritten... #
The Hills was a reality show
and it was just, like, being young
and hot and single in LA.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Show me that dress!
Rachel really, really liked
Audrina Patridge's style.
So she asked me, you know,
to do my thing.
You want to break into
a Hollywood mansion?
Step one, locate the address.
Step two, Google Maps.
It was in the hills in Hollywood.
Next - when will that house
be vacant?
The TMZ website did that work
for us.
She's going to be out at some
sort of party on Oscar night.
Make a note of the camera positions,
but don't act suspicious.
We weren't concerned with anybody
being able to identify us.
We weren't in the system,
our mugshots aren't there,
our fingerprints aren't there,
we're like ghosts.
We had our gloves and our, you know,
a couple of tools.
Rachel and I approach
Audrina's house.
DOORBELL RINGS
We ring her doorbell.
No one was home.
Let's do it.
I have not been back into this house
in six years,
and there's just an overwhelming,
overwhelming emotions
going through me right now.
Before I was famous,
my home was like my
private sanctuary.
After I was famous,
I was so used to filming in my house
all the time, it felt like a set.
There was just that
uncomfortable vibe.
Why wouldn't you just talk
to me about it? Like, obviously...
My life was an open book.
I actually had just got back
from Australia,
and I went on a huge shopping spree
where I spent so much money
at Maxfields with this stylist
and then I went to an Oscar event.
I came home after,
and I went to go in my suitcase
and my suitcase was gone.
And I looked in my jewellery box
and everything was gone.
Someone's been in my house.
What if someone's in the house
and they're like, they're in
the other room?
I was thinking,
"They're going to kill me."
I locked myself in my closet.
I was the most terrified
I've ever been in my entire life.
So there's a moment in every story
when we first meet the nemesis.
And it's important to give them
a good establishing
character moment.
So here's a retired LAPD officer
sitting down on a chair in slow
motion.
My name is Greg Kading.
I'm a retired Los Angeles police
detective.
Over the course of my career,
I investigated just about every
imaginable crime
from petty theft up to serial
murders.
And I worked burglary
for a period of time.
It's somewhat unusual for
a celebrity home to be targeted.
You know, it used to be,
the king lived in the castle.
You don't get to see him,
but you know he's there.
Now you get to live
with celebrities, you know,
you're in their homes
and they're telling you
the most intimate details
of their lives.
But in the domain of their home,
that is their sanctuary.
These are victims of crime.
I'm going to find out who these two
people are, and they're going down.
Miss Patridge provided
surveillance video.
It's just sickening to watch.
Rachel and I went around to
the side gate. It was open.
We walked up the hill,
and we were in her backyard.
We noticed sliding glass doors.
It just opens, like "Oh, my God,
you're fucking kidding."
Like, really? Another unlocked
door. You know, you're excited.
You know, what are we going to find?
Companies and brands would just send
you boxes of stuff
in the hopes that you'd wear it on
the show.
Clothes, boxes of shoes, purses.
But also they took sentimental
things
that were passed down from
grandmothers and great grandmothers.
It was like they went shopping
in my closet.
We felt slick, proud of ourselves
that we just committed another
burglary successfully
and got away with it, essentially.
And we're not stealing
from the poor.
It just changed everything
from that point forward.
It definitely made me more guarded
and not trusting of anyone or
anything.
They needed to be punished.
If you have CCTV
of young people committing a crime
and you're trying to identify them,
it's always a good idea that we
appeal to an audience
that was in
kind of that age range,
so then it raises the question,
how do you do that?
To me, 2006 through 2009
was by far definitely
the golden era of gossip.
All of America was obsessed
with materialism, celebrity.
It was a great way to escape.
Things started shifting
from people buying the magazines at
the checkout stands
at the grocery stores
to just going online.
People didn't want to read about it
a week later in a magazine.
I can upload an image or a story
within minutes of it happening.
You were gaining instant access
into these people's lives
in a way that you never had.
So you have this huge pressure on
being in the right place
and wearing the right clothes
and having the right lifestyle.
It was the beginning
of influencing, essentially.
Um, I call myself
the original influencer.
Websites like mine inspired
the folks behind TMZ
to launch that website.
TMZ, an online newsroom with
the very latest celebrity news.
Does being a celebrity have anything
to do with talent any more?
Not necessarily.
It has to do with exploiting
the moment.
TMZ appealed to
a younger generation,
so it would make sense to give TMZ
the first look at the CCTV
in order to get these individuals
identified.
Shortly after the Audrina burglary,
I was constantly monitoring TMZ.
Fuck. My heart sank into my stomach.
I got the chills.
I was pacing all around my room,
I couldn't sit still.
It seems that everything related
to this woman is caught on tape.
Even when her house gets robbed,
we've got video.
It was everywhere,
their faces were everywhere.
I thought we were fucked. I thought
we were going to get caught.
Hey, guys, I hope you enjoyed
that montage of LA.
So you would think I'd now react
to Nick being all over the news,
but in reality, I didn't actually
see it.
I was far too busy manifesting my
Hollywood career with my mom.
My chief aim in life
is to strive to express greater
and greater portions
of my potential as a professional
who is enjoying a successful career
working in the film industry.
The dominating thoughts in my mind
will eventually reproduce themselves
in outward physical action
and gradually transform themselves
into physical reality.
The affirmation was to have
a successful career
in the entertainment industry.
We had been doing the affirmation at
this point for a while,
and then all of a sudden...
PHONE RINGS
I got a phone from this producer
Dan Levy
and he's like, "Can I talk
to Andrea?"
and I was like, "Yeah, this is me."
Dan was just, like, an actor
for a film that Tess
and I were doing called Frat Party.
We told Dan that we're all
about manifesting
and we're going to, like, make it
big in Hollywood and yada yada.
And he said, "Would you be
interested in shooting a pilot
"for a reality show?"
And I was like "Oh, no, no, no, no,
that's not what I'm interested in.
"I'm interested in doing
real acting."
My mom was pretty excited about it.
I have no recollection
of her being like, "Now, girls,
I don't think so."
He said, "Yeah, but wouldn't it
be great
"if you could teach the law of
attraction on national television?"
And I was like, "Well, yeah, that
sounds really good to me", you know?
So we started to film for
the pilot in May.
Gabbie, it is time for school.
Hi, I'm Andrea.
Put that away.
This is not OK with me at all.
I am the mother of three wild
and crazy kids.
Gimme a kiss.
ELECTRIC ZAP, BOTH YELP
They had this vision
which was a hippy version
of the Kardashians, right?
I am getting back exactly what
I dished out, except in threes.
Let's do the frequency machine
on you.
I had them all evaluated
and they were told they had ADHD,
and so every morning
I give the girls Adderall.
Girls, it's time for your Adderall!
Our jaws just dropped, like,
"Oh, my God, that is awesome."
I mean, it was exciting
and a great fun idea,
but I think you'd probably have
a greater chance
of winning the lottery
than you do of getting
your own reality show on E!
After the Audrina burglary,
all the news channels had ran it
and it was over.
Cos news, you know, there's always
something better the next day.
I was like, "OK, what's next?"
And so eventually,
we chose our next victim.
MUSIC: California by Phantom Planet
# California, here we come... #
Rachel was an avid watcher
of the OC.
It was about a bunch
of rich high school kids
living the dream lifestyle.
Come on, let me buy you lunch.
My dad gave me his credit card
in case of emergencies,
and, well, this is an emergency. OK.
Rachel Bilson was known for being
a bit of a fashion It girl,
the most serious actress thus far.
We were slowly moving up.
All right, you know the drill.
When will that house be vacant?
She was going to New York
for a fashion event.
Remember to stick
to your normal routine.
You don't want to arouse suspicion.
The night she was out of town,
we were actually out
at a party that night.
Remember to keep a clear head.
I was maybe a little more drunk than
normal, so I did a bit of coke,
sobered myself up, if you could call
it that.
I was driving along at, like,
80 to 90, like, speeding.
SIREN WAILS
A cop saw us, I get lit up behind
me. We were like, "Fuck."
If you run into a cop,
lean on the coke.
It'll make you appear sober.
The cop comes up, you know,
"What are you doing tonight?"
and I was like "Oh, you know, I'm so
sorry I was going a little fast."
And he's like, you know,
"Don't let it happen again"
and just, you know, "Have a good
night." I was like, "Great."
We get to Rachel Bilson's house.
Rachel Bilson burglary marked.
So we found a window which was
unlocked. We were inside.
Welcome to Casa Fantastica,
the perfect sanctuary away
from the outside world.
In LA, your house is your
business card.
Your style of your home
tells a lot about you.
It was very cute. It was like
a Spanish style of Los Feliz.
Is it Los "Fel-eeze" or Los Feliz?
In the heart of Los Feliz,
a dramatic living room
features a captivating stained-glass
window and Saltillo tile floor.
Two-storey, wrought-iron staircase.
We both walked up stairs,
located the bedroom.
That's when Rachel's eyes just...
She had nothing that
was not designer.
Oh, hey, welcome back,
what can I help you with today?
Designer bags are
the biggest status symbol.
Certain designer bags are worth
more than actual gold.
So much Chanel, I mean,
and Chanel purses are, like,
so expensive.
It's a Chanel bag,
you have made it.
We were getting more comfortable.
Rachel had to use the restroom,
so she uses the restroom.
It was quick. It was like
a sneaker poop, you know.
Because that's evidence.
No, yeah, of course she flushed!
The next day...
PHONE BUZZES
..I was on BBM with Alexis.
We were hanging out more and more.
You know, I was drawn to her.
She definitely was looking to be in
the Hollywood scene in some fashion.
That's kind of what I was looking
for at that time in my life,
I wanted to feel like somebody.
In total, we probably partied, like,
five or six times,
and I had a fun time.
I mean, he was just like
a valley kid, right?
We got drunk, we got fucked up,
we drove home.
Us with, you know,
getting closer and being pretty
close at that point...
PHONE VIBRATES
..I arranged to meet up with them.
I went over there with the stuff.
I said, "OK, girls, you know the
drill,
"look into the trunk
and see what you like."
I never knew, I guess,
how to make genuine friendships
and connections without showing off.
I was trying to buy a friendship, in
a sense.
When I woke up,
I came out of my room.
Tess was there with Gabbie
and they had suitcases
full of clothes.
And I was like, "Whoa, where did you
get all these clothes?"
Um, hello?
She knew exactly where
the clothes were coming from.
Since Paris Hilton's house,
they had received the leftovers
of whatever no one else wanted,
essentially.
No. It wasn't like,
"Here's Nick, the robber of Paris
Hilton
"who's got, you know, millions
of dollars of jewels."
Like, it wasn't like that.
Then Andrea popped in
and she's like...
"Girls, what is going on?"
My mom asked, "How did you get all
of this stuff?"
Tess said, "Oh, from our friend
Nick, he's a stylist
"and he's just loaning us this stuff
for right now."
Alexis, you're insane.
At that time, we were hanging out
with lots of people in the industry,
so I didn't think twice.
The girls got to use these clothes
to do photo shoots
to enhance their portfolio,
so I was OK with that.
Andrea legitimately thought I was
a stylist.
Tess and Alexis obviously knew
I wasn't.
I offered Andrea a bag
and I could tell she got excited
because I think, you know,
she's a little vapid.
That was just not my style.
But I was trying to be gracious
and kind
and I was like, "Well, thank you,
that's very nice of you."
I was excited about new clothes
and cute stuff to wear out.
I felt accepted.
They were popular
and they took me under their wing
and it was a confidence booster.
But I would shortly thereafter find
out that Nick wasn't a stylist,
that Nick had stolen the clothes
and that he was involved
with all of these burglaries.
The personal impact on victims
of burglaries
is sometimes overlooked.
The property taken sometimes
is irreplaceable.
In the case of Bilson,
we know that her mother's engagement
ring had been stolen.
I've heard it said, "They're
wealthy celebrities,
"they can afford
to lose these things."
Or, "Hey, they didn't lock their
doors,
"you know, it's their fault."
We have to stop looking at
the victims as being responsible.
The perpetrators,
they had no regard
for these people as human beings.
You can just kind
of hear them giggling and laughing.
And they're also emboldened
to continue
to commit these crimes even though
they know
that their images have been captured
and publicised.
They probably have no idea as to
the seriousness of their crime,
and they don't recognise
the potential danger to themselves.
I will concentrate my thoughts
for 30 minutes a day
on the task of thinking of
the person I intend to become.
My daily life has
a never-ending vacuum
for new opportunities
to emerge in the
entertainment industry.
My name is Gennifer Gardiner.
I'm an executive producer,
show runner.
My name is Amber Mazzola and
and I, er, ruin people's lives!
Well, Kardashians was a huge
success,
so I think everybody wanted their
three sister shows
and these girls were very open
and they were trying
to break into Hollywood.
So that was the premise
originally, right?
These girls are on their way
to being famous
and I've got to be watching them
every step of the way.
And so it is.
ALL: And so it is.
Woo!
We heard back from
E! Entertainment
and they were interested in picking
up the show.
I mean, we went from being,
"Well, maybe this will happen,
maybe not" to all of a sudden like,
"This is really happening."
So, we showed up at
the production company for our show.
And Tess showed up with Nick Prugo.
When you're developing
a show, there's A characters,
B characters and C characters,
so Nick was one of the options.
At that age, the idea of having
or being a part of some reality show
is awesome.
So I was excited.
I mean, it was exciting.
My first impression was,
they were very sweet.
I thought they were outgoing,
which is always good for
a television show.
Our concern was, "What story
are we going to tell here
"and what are we following?"
So Alexis and her family could sell
a good story, right?
She's like,
"He's my gay best friend,
and that's how they were trying to
sell me,
as if that's gonna be a quality
for a character on the show.
But I was just coming
into my sexuality
and kind of getting comfortable
with it.
I certainly wasn't ready
to be this flamboyant personality
that I think they wanted me to be.
It was honestly so bad that they
were like,
"He can't be here, we can't do
this."
I was disappointed in myself
for not being able
to deliver a character.
So it just further, I guess,
confused me even more.
I just, I was super-uncomfortable.
I didn't know who to be.
I think people definitely have
star qualities.
I think out of the bunch,
Alexis probably had that.
I agree. I think Alexis was the one
that I came away from
the meeting as the star.
They wanted to be famous,
and I don't think they cared
honestly
how they were going to get famous,
but they wanted to be a Kardashian.
It wasn't about fame,
it was simply about doing
what I know I loved doing,
and that was being on camera.
That appeal for fame,
for me, was validation.
To feel like somebody cared,
for once.
We were all having fun living
a life that was playful
and we were a very connected family,
that's what the filming showed.
Now, the truth of the matter was,
there was a lot of fractured energy
between all of us.
Life at home with my mum
was chaotic.
She was super-controlling,
super-shaming
and her mental health
really impacted
the overall health of our home.
I mean, you don't call your daughter
a cunt,
you just don't.
I was a narcissistically driven
woman during those years
and so my way of being in
a relationship with other people,
including my daughters, was to sort
of make them dependent on me.
I mean, I was smoking weed with
the girls back then, totally.
Like, it was all about them not
abandoning me.
Tess and Gabbie had been
out partying
and I got a call from them saying,
"Where are you right now?
We're going to come pick you up."
Tess and I were
the ones who brought Oxy
to my sister, actually,
for the first time.
Her and I tried it at some kid's
house in the valley that she knew.
Tess and Gabbie pulled out this foil
with this pill on it,
and I didn't even think twice.
I was like, "This is it?"
The feeling of doing Oxy for
the first time
was like the warmth
in the hug of a loving parent.
It was this feeling that it's all
going to be OK.
I didn't know that Oxys were
so addictive, and I hated it.
I don't like the feeling
of being numb to the world.
Oxycontin is a very strong opiate.
I would equate it
to heroin in pill form.
I was not capable of stopping.
They were doing some drugs that
I wasn't ever familiar with,
my drugs of choice
were hallucinogenics and cocaine.
And it was scary to me.
I was like, "Wait a minute,
"you guys are talking about doing a
reality show,
"everybody better pull their shit
together and, like, behave."
Our addiction got crazy,
so she asked Tess to leave
and I followed suit.
My parents went out of town
and I had the house to myself
and I invited her to, you know,
stay with me.
Hi, Nicky, I'm recording you.
Hot bitch.
The teenage boy.
After a lucky late night,
that's where the craziness
went down.
This is when Alexis first expressed
interest
in becoming a part of it,
because according to her words,
you know, "I want first choice."
"I don't want Rachel's
hand-me-downs", essentially.
I don't recall having any
conversation with Nick like that.
Um, I know what happened, you know?
So anyway, this was me and Rachel's
thing.
I didn't really want to expand
the enterprise.
I think I was smart enough
to realise, you know,
the more people that know,
loose lips sink ships.
So it was onto the next.
PAPARAZZO: Orlando! Orlando!
I remember this one pretty well.
Orlando Bloom was a megastar.
huge blockbuster movies,
the highest profile person
that we had targeted thus far.
He was working on some movie
at the time.
Open house.
I was supposed to initially just go
with Rachel.
Alexis begged me to go.
I wasn't saying, "Hey, Nick, next
time you rob a house, involve me."
But I was open to the idea of
robbing a house
to get money for drugs.
Rachel wanted to bring
her friend Diana.
I felt, like, a little traded in,
like she traded me in for
a different model.
But you know, if you're going to
bring Diana,
then I'll bring someone else in.
I'll bring Alexis, even though
I'd been avoiding it, you know.
So, um, begrudgingly, I brought her.
Like, I remember bits
and pieces of what happened,
but not all the way through
because I was under
the influence of opiates and benzos.
HE LAUGHS
Alexis was not out of it.
Alexis was more than sober
and more than aware.
We meet Rachel and Diana outside
of Orlando Bloom's house.
Did you know you were going over
to Orlando Bloom's house?
That night, no.
I wasn't aware of whose house it was
that night.
Alexis was very much aware that she
was outside Orlando Bloom's house.
No.
Oh, well.
I remember there was a camera
in the tree by the house.
We had already been on camera
with Audrina Patridge,
so we walked backwards,
obscuring our identities,
and we approached the gate.
At that point, I had to pee.
There was no pee.
I did pee.
She jumped through that fence,
you know, like Wonder Woman.
There was a sliding door
that opened.
We all split up
and started shopping.
Alexis started bagging up shit
for herself.
Rachel and Nick just had
this confidence,
but I was like "Oh, fuck, this is
real, I'm in someone's house."
She was happy to do it.
"I'm gonna barf."
There was definitely,
you know, a bit of the wow factor.
I think I even did throw up.
It's such a crock, the version of
events I hear from her.
I didn't come here
to, like, save face.
I came here to be honest
and to move on.
Whatever. I went to his closet,
just took a ton of his clothes.
Um...
"Oh, fuck,
if I get caught, I'm screwed."
All of a sudden I hear,
"Oh, my God!"
Big score. Like, ten Rolex watches
and, like, five grand in cash in
an envelope.
The adrenaline had really kicked in.
It just seemed all very stepped up,
less of a fun little mission
to more of a serious criminal job.
We didn't tell Alexis about
the Rolexes and the cash
because we didn't wanna share them
with her,
because we didn't want her
there anyway.
I grabbed a Louis Vuitton
computer bag
and I grabbed a black sequin dress.
We started making our exit out of
the house.
In and out. On this kind of high.
Drove home.
PHONE RINGS
One night I'm at home
and I get this call,
and it was Alexis
and she said, "Mom, I need to come
home,
"Nick is into some stuff
with some other kids
"that is really scary to me."
I said, "OK, come home."
INTERVIEWER:
She did not go into any detail at
all
but it felt dark,
it felt very dark.
Thank you, Orlando.
Thank you very much.
Sorry about your break-in.
REPORTER: A group of teenagers broke
into the home of Orlando Bloom,
stealing designer clothes,
cash and his vintage
watch collection.
The Orlando Bloom case came into
the same division
where Audrina Patridge's case
was being handled,
and the same type
of items are being stolen.
Now investigators had potential
serial burglars.
We call that an ongoing
criminal enterprise,
and it becomes more recognised
and ultimately more serious.
It just takes this to
a different level.
We felt like criminals in
the most chic way.
We felt like we were these, like,
maybe sexy bandits
committing these intelligent cat
burglaries.
Like in a movie.
We wanted to be our own celebrity,
just using other people's shit.
Orlando Bloom,
he had great style,
which worked out great for me
because he was like my size.
I wore these clothes because I
wanted to be looked at and seen
and
I want to have that attention.
By 2009, social media was still in
its infancy,
and more so than reality television.
Social media really birthed this
entire class
who were taking control
over their own narrative.
Social media has changed everything.
It's democratised fame.
MySpace was really ground-breaking.
I mean, you were really able
to personalise a page
that you tried
to have represent who you were.
MySpace is like the prototype
for Facebook.
For young kids who don't feel
comfortable in your skin yet
and you want to be, like, in
the know, it's highly addictive.
We're constantly being bombarded
with images of our friends
and families and celebrities
living these seemingly perfect
lives,
and it's just human nature
to compare ourselves to others.
I wanted people to want what I had,
kind of like how I wanted
to have what the celebrities had.
When you look at people's lives on
social media,
you're looking at a fabrication.
You're presenting your best image
to show
the world how great you're doing.
You would post albums just full of,
you know, 100 photos,
of just like,
"This was my night out."
I'd never had that feeling
of feeling good in my own skin.
It felt great,
it was a nice feeling.
I finally felt
like this is who I wanted to be.
We heard back from
E! Entertainment
and they were interested in picking
up the show.
This felt like, "Wow, we're going
to do this, this is it."
We were in such bad
financial straits
and this was the one thing that
promised to be a saving grace.
E! gave us an offer
we couldn't refuse.
A $50,000 signing bonus,
and around $100,000 for
the season, each of us.
We were gonna do the first episode
and then we would go from there.
They started kind
of distancing themselves.
I think a part of them thought they
were, you know,
on a different level now and they
didn't really need me any more
now that they had this show.
You know, it bothered me.
They had their own income
that was about to start flowing in
and they were flying high,
you know, literally.
I went from feeling like a nobody to
a somebody really quick.
We were gaining access
to a scene that we never had before.
Tess worked a glamorous
Playboy shoot
and she met Kid Rock.
Which was pretty fucking cool,
to be honest.
Tess and I were invited over
to his house
and there were the coolest group
of people there.
TI was there,
Cindy Crawford
and some of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers were there.
It was like a dream.
And I spent the night talking
to this man
who was one of the biggest actors
in Hollywood, ever.
We were in the bathroom,
some of us were,
and this actor, he started to do
this monologue in front of us
that was so profound.
I was like, "Wow."
There are certain people
in the world
that just have that special
something, and he had it.
At that point, they were
disappearing
for a couple of days at a time,
taking private jets
with much older men.
I didn't care because I had done
the same things
and it was fun and it was exciting
for them and... whatever.
Alexis didn't
want to rob any more and I just,
I mean, at least for me, I...
I almost didn't know how to stop.
By not committing crimes any more
and, you know, essentially losing
that lifestyle
I would not be able to afford
this illusion that I'd created.
And that's scary, you know.
So, you know, I kind
of just went back more with Rachel.
Lindsay Lohan is facing new
legal troubles.
Lindsay Lohan. Lindsay Lohan.
Lindsay Lohan.
So, if 2008 to 2010 had a face in
LA,
it would be Lindsay Lohan,
a movie star.
One of the most popular celebrities.
Front page, every day.
For those who care, actress Lindsay
Lohan is in trouble again.
Crashing her Mercedes. DUI...
And cocaine in her possession...
Rehab.
She was badass and what Rachel
and I were doing was badass,
so on some level
I kind of wanted to emulate that.
I eventually found her address.
We could have this one last hurrah.
So, Lindsay Lohan was out 24/7.
We for sure thought she was out.
It was Rachel, Diana and myself.
We got through the gates.
We knew there were cameras.
I had kind of like a scarf, like,
half-assed laid over my head
with a hat.
However, I didn't,
I didn't feel comfortable.
There was no exit behind
the house to the back yard.
It dropped off a cliff.
Lindsay could be home at any minute.
I was more uneasy than usual.
But Rachel and my friendship had
solely become based on, you know,
committing burglaries,
so essentially by stopping,
I'd be ending the relationship
with Rachel.
We boosted Diana into a window.
Diana went in and unlocked
the door.
I'd never seen a house
with so much stuff.
Diana and Rachel,
their heads exploded.
You know,
they didn't know where to begin,
what to take, what to do.
It was like hoarder's luxury.
There was the awe,
you know, factor of it all.
I said, "Let's hit it," we left.
My car was stuffed.
Officer, do you have a suspect
already?
As a result of the Lindsay Lohan
burglary,
security camera footage was able to
provide
really good facial features of
the perpetrators.
So now the investigators recognise
the Lohan case and the Patridge
case, it's the same people.
So, once again approached TMZ.
I was doing my usual checks,
and that's when...
More articles started coming out
comparing the two videos.
Holy shit.
Alexis said, "It's Nick Prugo, Mom.
"Look at the news, he's wearing
the hat that he always wears."
We were all kind of like,
"This is bad.
This is really fucking bad."
I instantly went into paranoia mode,
so what I did just to protect myself
was move all of the stolen property
from every burglary I had
to a storage facility
at my grandmother's.
My... heart has always wanted
to tell the truth.
I've always carried around guilt
for what I did.
So, Tess and I made a call to
the Hollywood police department
and we named Nick.
If they had told me that they were
going to do that,
I would have said that it was stupid
and they shouldn't do that.
They were basically telling
on themselves.
The investigators simply logged onto
Facebook,
they went to Nick Prugo's
Facebook page,
looked at his profile picture
and said,
"Well, what do you know? It
looks like that guy."