New Counts Alleged in Panty Thefts : Crime: A defendant in lingerie burglaries in Mission Viejo is expected to face Newport Beach charges also.

A Mission Viejo man suspected of breaking into condominium units to steal women’s underclothes is believed to be the same person responsible for a string of lingerie thefts in Newport Beach during the last year, authorities said Wednesday.

Deane Hawkins, who has been arraigned on 11 charges of burglarizing homes, is expected to face five additional counts relating to the Newport Beach thefts, his attorney and police confirmed.

Hawkins, 49, was jailed with bail set at $500,000 when he was arraigned before South County Municipal Judge Pamela L. Iles two weeks ago.

His arrest came after a yearlong investigation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and Newport Beach police into reports that a mysterious “lingerie burglar” was stealing underwear and other women’s clothes from homes.

Investigators said they seized about 700 items of women’s clothing from Hawkins’ rented condominium in the Las Palmas Condominium complex on La Mar.

About a third of the garments have been identified as stolen property, said investigator Janet Riddle, who led a team of six sheriff’s detectives investigating the thefts.

“It’s a real different type of crime,” Riddle said. “It’s not your normal burglary where they are stealing VCRs.”

Hawkins has pleaded not guilty and has denied involvement in the Newport Beach thefts, according to documents filed in South Orange County Municipal Court.

Riddle said that Hawkins has admitted burglarizing homes in Mission Viejo and that he has been convicted of similar residential burglaries in Monrovia and Azusa dating back to 1969.

“It’s an unusual and a sad case,” Hawkins’ attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jim Steinberg, said Wednesday. “There is no evidence to suggest that he attacked anyone or he had negative contact with anyone.”

Riddle said the burglaries at the Mission Viejo condominium complex began last September, about four months after Hawkins moved in.

Eleven other break-ins followed with women reporting that they would return home and find their lingerie removed from their drawers and sometimes their underclothes missing from their clothes hampers.

The victims were mainly single professional women who were at work most of the day. Police said Hawkins apparently worked at night.

Investigators determined that the thief gained entry to their unit by prying open the front door and side windows. In some cases, the thief paid a second visit to the unit to steal more clothing.

In 1969, Hawkins was convicted of stealing undergarments from 10 women in his apartment complex in Azusa, court records show. Las Vegas police also described Hawkins as “an armed career criminal,” noting that he was convicted of possession of three concealed weapons there.

Riddle, who secured a warrant to search Hawkins’ home, said she found women’s garments in almost every closet in the house. “One of the closets contained literally hundreds of items of women’s clothing,” she said in court documents, “. . . women’s underwear in a pile on the closet floor, an entire closet full of women’s dresses, blouses, bras, skirts, shoes, nightgowns, slips, garters, pants, nylons, womens perfumes.”

Riddle said Hawkins has denied any involvement in the Newport Beach incidents. Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said five people in Newport Beach have identified their belongings from items seized in Hawkins’ home.

Steinberg said he was informed by the district attorney’s office that charges will be filed in the Newport Beach burglaries this week.

Meanwhile, officials at the Las Palmas complex said they have increased security since the burglaries were reported last year.

Arnold Camin, a manager at the 405-unit complex, said 24-hour security patrols now roam the property.

“A lot of the husbands went out and bought .357s when this was going on,” Camin said. “Because if the men would have caught him, (the thief) would be dead and they would have been in trouble. We have a lot of macho guys living here.”

Times staff writer James M. Gomez and correspondent Terry Spencer contributed to this report.