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The Bling Ring Extract

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    How a Gang of Fame-Obsessed Teens RippedOff Hollywood and Shocked the World

    NANCY JO SALES

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    HarperCollinsPublishers7785 Fulham Palace Road,

    Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

    www.harpercollins.co.uk

    First published in the US by HarperCollinsPublishers2013Tis edition published 2013

    1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

    Nancy Jo Sales 2013

    Photographs on pages 6, 59, 88, 209, 237 courtesy of Splash News and PictureAgency; photographs on pages 66, 82, 172 courtesy of X17, Inc.; photograph on

    page 109 Warner Bros./Getty Images; photograph on page 129 AFP/Getty Images; photographs on pages 138 and 146 Susanna Howe/ runk Archive;

    photograph on page 161 WireImage/Getty Images.

    Designed by Ruth Lee-Mui

    Nancy Jo Sales asserts the moral right tobe identified as the author of this work

    A catalogue record of this book is

    available from the British Library

    ISBN 978-0-00-751822-7

    Printed and bound in Great Britain byClays Ltd, St Ives plc

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

    in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior

    written permission of the publishers.

    FSC is a non-profit international organisation established to promotethe responsible management of the worlds forests. Products carrying theFSC label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come

    from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic andecological needs of present and future generations,

    and other controlled sources.

    Find out more about HarperCollins and the environment atwww.harpercollins.co.uk/green

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    1

    In 2007, Paris Hilton bought a house in the Mulholland Estates, agated community in what is technically Sherman Oaks, Caliornia.

    Te developer was able to secure the more coveted Beverly Hills,

    90210, zip code or the address, which over the years has attracted

    many celebrity residents, including Charlie Sheen, Paula Abdul,

    and om Arnold. Te development boasts panoramic views o

    the San Fernando Valley and some o the areas most extravagant

    homes, most o them built in the 1990s, when residential architecture was continuing to reect the mass celebration o conspicuous

    consumption as seen on popular television shows like Dallas and

    Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

    wo thousand seven was a dicult year or Hilton, rom a

    legal perspective. Her drivers license had been suspended on a

    DUI charge the year beore, and, ater she was caught speeding

    down Sunset Boulevard in her blue Bentley Continental GC, she

    spent 23 days o a 45day sentence or probation violation in jail.

    Meanwhile, she continued to do very well nancially. Even ootage

    that suraced o her using a number o racial and homophobic slurs

    did not interere with her growing success. Te liestyle brand

    she launched in 2004 now encompassed television, movies, music,

    clothing, books, jewelry, ragrances, handbags, pet apparel, and her

    Dreamcatcher hair extensions. Her latest reality show, Paris Hiltons

    My New BFF, was in the works (contestants in the rst season wereasked, Would you die or Paris? as Hilton looked on, giggling).

    Hilton, still just 26, was hot, as she liked to say. And so she bought

    hersel a 7,493squareoot, vebedroom, Mediterraneanstyle

    mansion or $5.9 million.

    About a year later, on a balmy night in October 2008, two

    teenagers drove along Mulholland Drive toward Hiltons home

    with the intention o robbing it. Tey were a girl and a boy, 18 and17, who lived not ar away in Calabasas, an afuent suburb in the

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    4 the BliNg riNg

    Valley. Te boy, Nick Prugo, was slight o build, with sharp, oxlike

    eatures and an anxious, ashing smile. With his prematurely thin

    ning hair, he looked like some ormer Nickelodeon star who hadoutgrown his childhood appeal. He had a pencilthin mustache

    and a sparse goatee, which complemented his trendy hipster look

    (hoodie, jeans, sneakers, wallet chain). Te girl he said was with him

    in the car that night, Rachel Lee, was darkhaired and slender with

    a baby ace that belied her steely core. As always, Rachel, who had

    been voted Best Dressed in their high school, twice, was styled

    to perection in casual burglar chic (hoodie, scar, designer shirt,jeans). Rachel was obsessed with ashion, Nick said, she was ob

    sessed with clothes; that was why they were going to Pariss house

    that night, because Rachel wanted Pariss clothes.

    Te riends didnt say much as they traveled along the curv

    ing mountain road toward their targets home. Te planning stages

    had elt veryMission: Impossible, Nick said, and they had taken

    to calling the job they were about to perorm the mission. Teyd

    been intense and talkative then, guring out how they were going

    to gain access to a gated community with a guard. Nick had scoped

    out the property on Google Earth, having ound Hiltons address

    on Celebrity Address Aerial. (It was a website dedicated to the

    divulging o celebrity addresses and photographs o their residences

    or $99.99 a year. Its web masters took a dim view o Hilton, opin

    ing on their promotional page, Te reason so many people hate

    America is, quite simply, Paris Hilton.)When Nick checked out the aerial shots o the Mulholland

    Estates, he noticed an area in the back that looked accessible via

    a steep hill. Rachel was pleased with this nding, he said, and that

    pleased him; Nick liked to please Rachel. He elt a thrill as they

    hurtled toward this strange adventure together. He was nervous, he

    said, but Rachel was calm, and that calmed him down. He tried to

    keep his mind on the music playing in the car as they zoomed alongthrough the dark. He liked club hits by Pharrell and Lil Wayne and

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    The Fame Monster 5

    songs by Atmosphere, the melancholy white rap group rom Min

    nesota. Tere was one song o theirs in particular that always made

    him think o Rachelcalled Shes Enough. Its about a man whowill do anything or the woman he loves:

    If she want it/Im gonna give it up . . . If she needed the money/I

    would stick you up . . . She wanna do the damn thing and Im on her

    side . . .

    Around midnight, Nick said, they arrived at the Mulholland

    Estates and he parked his white oyota at the back o the develop

    ment. Tey ound the hill they were looking or easily and climbedit, making use o the smooth rebreaksmanmade clearings in

    its sideto help them scale it. Tey could hear each other panting

    with the eort. Tey werent athletic kidsthey smoked cigarettes

    and weed. Tey both had medical marijuana cards issued by the

    state o Caliornia; they werent hard to get.

    Once inside the gated community, they strolled past the

    cavernous castlelike mansions and gleaming luxury cars, as i in

    a dream. Tey were condent, Nick said, that i anyone spotted

    them, they wouldnt be thought out o place. Tey looked like nor

    mal kids; he might be some neighbors boy; Rachel might be his

    girlriend.

    Tats the thing that really made everything ow when me

    and Rachel would go out and do these things, Nick said. We

    wouldnt be masked, we wouldnt be in gloves. We wouldnt be

    conspicuouswed be just natural looking so i anything ever happened wed just be like, what? Were normal kids. It wasnt that we

    were criminals.

    He said he could never remember the exact moment when he

    and Rachel decided to start burglarizing the homes o celebrities;

    but once they did, they knew right away that Paris would be the

    rst. Rachels idea, he said, and, I guess, my idea, was that she was

    dumb. Like, who would leave a door unlocked? Who would havea lot o money lying around? Logically out o anyone in America

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    could probably gure out that i you were gonna do something

    to a celebrity it would be someone that wasnt, you know, that

    bright. . . .And then suddenly there was Paris house, rising beore them

    like the villa o some Spanish contessa, all glowing yellow stone and

    Mediterranean tile. Nick tried to stay calm as he ollowed Rachel

    across the driveway to the ront door. Teir planwell, not really a

    plan, it was more o an impulse, or as oten as they had imagined

    this night, they had actually decided to just go and do it spontane

    ously, ater having a ew drinkstheir plan was just to ring the belland see i anybody answered. And i somebody did, well, then, they

    might get to see Paris. And that would be awesome, in a unny kind

    o way. Tey would pretend they were just a couple o ditzy kids

    with the wrong address, kids out looking or a party.

    Paris Hiltons booking photo ollowing her arrestor reckless driving, September 2006.

    Rachel rang the bell, Nick said, putting on the innocent ace he

    had seen her wear so many times beore. Rachel was good at play

    ing the pretty girl whenever adults were around asking questions.

    She knew she was a goodlooking girl and she knew there were

    certain things she could get away with. She knew how the system

    worked. She knew how you could play it.

    She rang and rang again . . . but still there was no answer. Was

    Paris in, or out? Promoting her handbag line at some okyo de

    partment store? Attending a Russian billionaires birthday party

    in Moscow (or a ee, o course)? Nick

    had been tracking Hiltons whereaboutsthrough her witter account and ce

    lebrity news outlets like MZ, but he

    wasnt actually sure where she was that

    night. . . .

    Dingdong.

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    The Fame Monster 7

    Were they really going to do this thing? Or were they just

    going to go home with a unny story to tell their riends?

    And then, Nick said, the thought occurred to him just to lookunder the mat. It was like nding Willy Wonkas Golden icket

    when the glinting metal o the key appeared. Dumb was right.

    Wow.

    Inside it was like a Barbie Dreamhouse. Tere were images o

    Paris everywhere, ramed photographs o Paris on the walls; ramed

    magazine covers o Paris cover stories; ramed pictures on tables o

    Paris with all her amous riendsthere was Mariah Carey, JessicaSimpson, Fergie, Nicky Hilton (Paris sister), Nicole Richie (were

    they still close?). Tere were pictures o Paris in the bathrooms. Her

    ace was silkscreened on couch pillows.

    Tere was a lot o pink, and there were crystal chandeliers in

    almost every room. Even the kitchen. It was like stepping into

    the girliest Hilton hotel youve ever seen. Nick said they walked

    around slowly, marveling that they were really there. Tere was

    that percentage o wow, this is Paris Hiltons house, but as soon as

    I put my oot in the door, I was just wanting to run out. . . . It was

    horriying.

    He wanted to leave, he said, but now Rachel was running up

    the stairs. Upstairs were the bedrooms, and the bedrooms had the

    closets, and the closets had the clothes. Nick said he ollowed Ra

    chel to the master bedroomit was chilly in there and smelled like

    the perume counter in a department store. Te room led out on toa balcony overlooking the pool and, beyond that, the rolling hills

    o the Valley, shimmering with lights. As they gazed in the direc

    tion o their own homes rom the vantage point o one o the most

    Googled people on the planet, they couldnt help but laugh.

    Te little dogsChihuahuas and a Pomeranian, inkerbell,

    Marilyn Monroe, Prince Baby Bear, Harajuku Bitch, Dolce and

    Pradascurried around, regarding them curiously, but they didntbark. Tey must have been used to having strangers in the house.

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    (About a year later, Hilton would build the dogs a 300squareoot,

    $325,000 miniature o her home in the backyard. Philippe Starck

    would provide the urniture.)Oh my God!

    Nick said that Rachel squealed with delight when she ound

    the closets. One was the size o a small room and the other the size

    o a small clothing store. It was like that scene where the dwarves

    discover the dragons treasureladen lair in Te Hobbit. One closet

    had a chandelier, and the other had urniture, as i Paris might want

    to just sit in there and look at all her stu. Te smaller closet hadoortoceiling shelves with hundreds o pairs o shoes, all lined up

    like trophiesManolos, Louboutins, Jimmy Choos, a pair o YSLs

    shaped like the Eiel ower. Tere were shoes o every color

    satiny, shiny, pointy shoes. Huge shoes. Size 11.

    Te bigger closet was ull o racks and racks o clothes. Nick

    had to smile. Rachel, do your thing, he said. And she was rum

    maging through everything, very, very into it, very ocused, very

    Tis is my mission. She was plowing through the racks o the

    wild, sparkly, eathery clothing, exclaiming over all the designers

    this was Ungaro, that was Chanel! Tere were dresses, gowns,

    blouses, and coats by Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana and

    Versace and Diane von Furstenberg and Prada. . . . Nick said Rachel

    recognized some o the pieces rom Paris public appearances; she

    ollowed these things; she knew which one Paris had worn to the

    VMAs and the een Choice Awards.He said she said it was like going shopping.

    Now he was starting to get nervous again. He decided to go

    and be the lookout rom the top o the stairs; rom there, you could

    see through the big windows to the ront o the house. So Nick sta

    tioned himsel there. He was sweating unnaturally, he said. Every

    ve minutes I was yelling down the hall, Lets get the uck out o

    here! I want to leave! Fuck this, I dont care anymore! And she waslike, its ne, its ne, its ne, lets keep going. . . .

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    The Fame Monster 9

    He resented the way that Rachel was always in charge, no mat

    ter what they didhe hated that, he saidbut what could he do?

    Tis was the girl [he] loved, and he didnt want to lose her. Andalthough hed never tested it, there was something about Rachel

    that said that i you didnt do what Rachel wanted, she would walk.

    It wasnt that he minded Rachel taking a ew o Pariss things

    look at Pariss house; she had everything. And she didnt really

    to contribute to society, she wasnt some great actor like Anthony

    Hopkins or Johnny Depp, someone thats really good at their crat.

    She was an heir head, like the tabloids said, a celebutard.It wasnt like a malicious thing or me, Nick said. I wasnt out

    to get, like, a workingclass American.

    But Nick did not want to get caught. He yelled again or Ra

    chel to hurry up and lets get out o here! But he said she just an

    swered, Tis is ne, this is okay, why are you tripping out?

    And then he saw on the wall o the stairwell the portrait o

    Paris scowling down at him. She was wearing a little black cocktail

    dress and sitting on a settee with her legs olded underneath her.

    She looked like a Park Avenue princess who has become very dis

    pleased about something. She was staring, glaring, as i to say, How

    dare you come in my house and touch my stu, bitch? Im gonna

    get you. . . .

    Nick bolted back down the hall to Rachel. She had selected a

    designer dress, he saidhe couldnt remember which, there would

    be so manyand a couple o Paris bras. He insisted that now itwas time to leavebut not beore they checked inside Paris purses.

    Tey knew rom experienceor yes, theyd done this kind o thing

    beorethat people with money tend to leave money lying around

    the house. And, sure enough, in the closet with the shoes and the

    sunglasses where Paris also kept her many bagsFendi, Hermes,

    Balenciaga, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and on and onthey ound

    crumpled up cash, ties, hundreds, which looked to us like shewent shopping that day, and this was just her spare change. Nick

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    10 the BliNg riNg

    would remember the smell o the expensive leather, Rachel ooh

    ing and aahing over the labels, and the crinkling sound o the bills.

    Tey came away with about $1,800 eacha good haul.And now it really was time to go. But rst they couldnt resist

    checking out the rest o the house. Tey wandered aroundit was

    spooky, as i Paris were there somewhere, watching them. Paris

    could walk in at any time. Tey discovered the nightclub room

    with the disco ball and the padded bar. Tey thought about all the

    amous people who had been in thereBritney, Lindsay, Nicole,

    Nicky, Benji Madden (the Good Charlotte guitarist and thenPariss boyriend), Avril Lavigne. . . . Tey couldnt help but imagine

    themselves there again someday, chilling, dancing, with Paris.

    Nick took a bottle o Grey Goose vodka or himsel, and

    they let.

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