LENO LURES TOURISTS, CAR BURGLARS.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

BURBANK - Relying on the popularity of ``The Tonight Show,'' a team of car burglars has been preying on fans as they attending NBC studio tapings, getting away with $100,000 in laptop computers, cameras and other equipment, officials said Wednesday.

Manuel Guzman, 29, of Inglewood and Esteban Aguilar, 29, of Los Angeles were arrested Tuesday as police caught them breaking into a car as its owner waited to see ``The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,'' according to police reports. Police said they recovered at least 30 laptop computers and dozens of cameras from Guzman's home.

``They would normally hit every third day or so in the area of the studios,'' said Burbank police spokesman Sgt. Bruce Speirs. ``They are very professional. When they break into a car, they are very fast.''

A Burbank police surveillance team on bicycles and rooftops caught the suspects breaking into a car with Michigan license plates, parked near the NBC Studios on California Street. Warner Bros. and Disney studios are also nearby.

Police said the men might be connected to a rash of thefts that began last November, when tourists began reporting stolen items to Burbank police.

Most of the thefts were from rental cars or those with out-of-state license plates, officials said.

Jack O'Neill, vice president of facilities at NBC, said the studio had been cooperating with police, easing its restriction on bringing cameras into the live taping.

``As a last resort, people are allowed to bring cameras, if there is no way they can take them back to their cars or hotel rooms, as long as they don't use them,'' he said.

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Loot from auto burglaries outside NBC's studio were seized by police.

Joel P. Lugavere/Special to the Daily News