[mysterious music playing]
[camera shutter clicking]
[Nick] The biggest night in Hollywood is Oscar night.
[thrilling music playing]
[Nick] 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.
[Alexis] Celebrities are like our royalty.
I think certain people do have that special something
that's unique and magical.
There's a difference between star and celebrity.
Celebrities, you're famous for being famous.
You're popular, but there's no real talent.
[Perez] In the 2000s, reality TV and social media
has made celebrities very accessible to everybody.
You are 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.
[ethereal music playing]
[Nick] 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...
[chuckling] ...commit a burglary.
[tense music playing]
[Nick] So, in the beginning of 2009,
to make sure that, you know, 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, we're like, "Well, we can do this again. No problem."
[enthralling music playing]
["Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield playing]
♪ Today is where your book begins ♪
♪ The rest is still unwritten ♪
[Nick] The Hills was a reality show.
It was like, being young and hot and single in LA.
[paparazzi clamoring]
[Nick] Rachel really, really liked Audrina Patridge's style.
So, she asked me, you know, to do my thing.
[mischievous music plays]
Wanna 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 websites did that work for us.
She's gonna be out at some sort of party on Oscar night.
[mischievous music continues]
[Nick] 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 mug shots aren't there, fingerprints aren't there.
We're like ghosts.
We had our gloves and our, you know, a couple tools.
Rachel and I approach Audrina's house.
[doorbell rings]
[Nick] We ring her doorbell.
No one was home.
"Let's do it."
[Audrina] I have not been back into this house in six years,
and there's just an overwhelming...
Overwhelming emotions going through me right now.
My mom and dad actually helped me find this house.
And this was the second house I looked at, and I just loved it.
My home was, like, my private sanctuary.
Yeah, it felt very safe, and this...
That was before I really got into the show and became famous.
- Hi. - Hey.
- Can we talk? - Yeah.
After I was famous, I was so used to filming in my house all the time.
It felt like a set.
There is just that uncomfortable vibe.
Why wouldn't you just talk to me about it? Obviously it was...
My life was an open book.
Everybody in the world knew what it looked like in here,
so it wasn't very private in that sense.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Audrina] I actually had just got back from Australia.
I went on my first huge shopping spree
where I spent so much money at Maxfields with a stylist,
and then I went to an Oscar event.
[suspenseful music continues]
[Nick] The door, windows were locked. Everything up front was locked,
but there was a side gate. It was open.
We walked up the hill.
And we were in her backyard.
We notice sliding glass doors.
Rachel walks into the sliding glass door and tries it and it just opens.
Like, oh, my... Like, "You're fucking kidding. Really?"
"Another unlocked door? Another fucking unlocked door?"
[Audrina] I left the door open where I stored all of my stuff.
Clothes, boxes of shoes, purses. Like, so all of that was in that room.
[Nick] So, you know, we went in.
You know, you're excited. You know, what are we gonna find?
So much stuff. It was all over the place.
With celebrities and us being on TV,
like, companies and brands would just send you boxes of stuff
in hopes that you would wear it on the show.
I mean, the gift bag swag is just, like, nuts.
[atmospheric music playing]
[Audrina] I remember I came home after.
And I went to go get my suitcase and my suitcase was gone.
[Nick] A Louis Vuitton luggage suitcase and it was full of clothes.
Rachel took the whole suitcase.
It was like a pre-packed suitcase of clothes, you know?
Um...
And I was like...
I said, "I remember I put my suitcase here."
"Am I losing my mind?"
And I looked in my jewelry box and everything was gone.
Someone's been in my house.
What if someone's in the house and they're in the other room?
I was thinking, "They're gonna kill me."
[tense music playing]
I locked myself in my closet, and I just started shaking.
[Nick] 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.
I was the most terrified I've ever been in my entire life that night.
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.
[indistinct police radio chatter]
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 see him, but you know he's there.
Now you get to live with celebrities.
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.
[Audrina] After my house was broken into, walking in here, it's almost like,
I could feel that energy of them in here taking stuff,
and I just felt like I don't even wanna be here.
I don't want to stay at this house anymore.
I'm gonna find out who these two people are, and they are going down.
[Greg] Ms. Patridge provided surveillance video.
It's just sickening to watch.
It was like they went shopping in my closet.
But also, they took sentimental things
that were passed down from grandmothers and great-grandmothers.
It just changed everything from that point forward.
It definitely made me more guarded and not trusting of anyone or anything.
Um...
They needed to be punished.
[Greg] 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.
[keyboard keys clacking]
[Nick] Things started shifting
from people buying the magazines at the checkout stands in grocery stores
to just going online.
[Perez] People didn't want to read about it a week later in a magazine.
Through my website, perezhilton.com,
I can upload an image or a story within minutes of it happening.
[phone chimes]
[Alexis] 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.
[reporter] TMZ, an online newsroom with the very latest celebrity news.
Does being a celebrity have anything to do with talent anymore?
Not necessarily.
It has to do with exploiting the moment.
[Greg] 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.
[Nick] Shortly after the Audrina burglary, I was constantly monitoring TMZ.
[suspenseful music playing]
Fuck. My heart sank into my stomach.
I got the chills.
I was pacing all around my room. I couldn't sit still.
[reporter] Seems that everything related to this woman is caught on tape,
even when her house gets robbed.
We've got video.
[Audrina] It was everywhere. Their faces were everywhere.
I thought we were fucked, I thought we were gonna get caught.
[mischievous music playing]
[Alexis] 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.
[Andrea] "My 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."
[Alexis] 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 ringing]
I got a phone call from this producer, Dan Levy, and he's like,
"Can I talk to Andrea?" I was like, "This is me."
[Alexis] Dan was just, like, an actor for a film
that Tess and I were doing called Frat Party.
[rock music playing]
[Alexis] We told Dan we're all about manifesting
and we're gonna, like, make it big in Hollywood and yadda, yadda.
[Andrea] He said, "Would you be interested in shooting a pilot for a reality show?"
And I was like, "Oh, no, no, no. That's not what I'm interested in."
"I'm interested in doing real acting."
[Alexis] My mom was pretty excited about it.
I have no recollection of her being like, "Now, girls, I don't think so."
[Andrea] 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 okay with me at all.
I am the mother of three wild and crazy...
- Kiss. [screams] - [electricity crackles]
[chuckles]
They had this vision which was a hippie version of The Kardashians, right?
I am getting back exactly what I dish out, except in threes.
Let's do the frequency machine on you.
I had them evaluated and they were told
that they had ADHD, 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."
[Alexis] I mean, it was exciting and a great, fun idea,
but I think you probably have a greater chance of winning the lottery
than you do of getting your own reality show on E!
[keyboard keys clacking]
[Nick] After the Audrina burglary,
all the news channels had ran it, and it was over,
'cause news, you know, there's always something better the next day.
[exhales] Like, okay, what's next?
[tense music playing]
[Nick] And so, eventually, we chose our next victim.
["California" by Phantom Planet playing]
♪ California, here we come Right back... ♪
Rachel was an avid watcher of The O.C.
It was about rich high school kids living the dream lifestyle.
Let me buy you lunch.
My dad gave me his credit card in case of emergencies
and, well, this is an emergency.
[chuckling] Okay.
[Nick] Rachel Bilson was known for being a bit of a fashion It girl.
The most serious actress thus far.
We were slowly moving up.
[keyboard keys clacking]
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.
[car engine starts]
[rock music playing]
[Nick] I was driving along at like 80 to 90, like, speeding.
[police siren blaring]
[Nick] A cop saw us.
I get lit up behind me.
We were like, "Fuck."
[indistinct police radio chatter]
If you run into a cop, lean on the coke. It'll make you appear sober.
The cop comes up. "What are you doing tonight?"
I was like, "I'm sorry. I was going a little fast."
He's like, "Don't let it happen again," and just, you know, "Have a good night."
I was like, "Great." [laughs]
We get to Rachel Bilson's house.
[clapper] Rachel Bilson burglary, mark.
So, we found a window which was unlocked.
We were inside. [chuckles]
Welcome to Casa Fantástica.
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.
[Nick] It was very cute. It was like a Spanish-style off Los Feliz.
Is it Los Feliz or Los Feliz?
In the heart of Los Feliz,
a dramatic living room features a captivating stained-glass window
and Saltillo tile floor.
[Nick] Two-story, wrought-iron staircase.
We both walked upstairs,
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.
[Lauren] It's a Chanel bag.
You have made it.
[Nick] We were getting more comfortable.
Rachel had to use the restroom.
So, she used the restroom.
[laughs]
It was quick. It was like a sneak-a-poop, you know.
- [laughs] - [producer] Did she flush?
No. Yeah, of course she flushed.
[rock music continues]
[Nick] The next day...
[cell phone vibrates]
[Nick] 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 what I was looking for at that time in my life.
I wanted to feel like somebody.
[Alexis] 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...
[cell phone vibrates]
[Nick] ...I arranged to meet up with them.
[mischievous music playing]
[Nick] I went over there with this stuff.
I said, "Okay, 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.
[Alexis] 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'd you get all these clothes?"
[Nick] 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.
[Alexis] No.
It wasn't like, "Here's Nick, the robber of Paris Hilton
who's got, you know, millions of dollars of jewels."
It wasn't like that.
[Nick] Then Andrea popped in. She's like...
"Girls, what is going on?"
[Alexis] My mom asks, "How did you get all 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. [laughs]
At that time, we were hanging out with lots of people in the industry,
so I didn't think twice.
[Andrea] The girls got to use these clothes
to do photo shoots to enhance their portfolio.
So, I was okay with that.
[Nick] 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.
I was like, "That's nice of you."
[Alexis] I was excited about new clothes and cute stuff to wear out.
[Nick] I felt accepted.
They were popular, and they took me under their wing.
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.
[sighs]
[tense music playing]
[Greg] 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, "You know, 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 'em 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 publicized.
They probably have no idea as to the seriousness of their crime,
and they don't recognize the potential danger to themselves.
[Andrea] "Therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts 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, showrunner.
My name is Amber Mazzola and...
And I, uh... ruin people's lives. [laughing]
[Gennifer] 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?
[Andrea] These girls are on their way to being famous,
and I've gotta be watching them every step of the way.
And so it is.
- [girls] And so it is. - [Andrea] Whoo!
[both laughing]
We heard back from E! Entertainment,
and they were interested in picking up the show.
I mean, we went from being like, "Well, maybe this will happen, maybe not,"
to all of a sudden like, "This is really happening."
[upbeat music playing]
[Alexis] 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.
[Nick] At that age, the idea of being a part of some reality show is awesome.
So, I was excited. I mean, it was exciting.
[Gennifer] My first impression, is they were very sweet.
They were outgoing, which is good for a television show.
[Amber] Our only concern was, what story are we gonna tell here
and what are we following?
[Nick] Alexis and her family could sell a good story, right?
She's like, "He's my gay best friend."
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."
[Nick] I was disappointed in myself for not being able to deliver a character.
So, it just further, I guess, confused me even more.
I was super uncomfortable. I didn't know who to be.
People definitely have star qualities.
- Out of the bunch, Alexis had that. - I agree.
[Gennifer] Alexis was the one that I came away from that meeting as the star.
They wanted to be famous, and I don't think they cared
how they were gonna 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.
[Alexis] The appeal for fame for me was validation.
To feel like somebody cared, for once.
[Andrea] 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.
[Alexis] Life at home with my mom 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.
[atmospheric music playing]
[Alexis] Tess and Gabbie had been out partying,
and I got a call from them saying, "Where are you? We're gonna 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.
[Alexis] 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
and the hug of a loving parent.
It was this feeling that it's all gonna be okay.
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.
[Alexis] OxyContin is a very strong opiate.
I would equate it to heroin in pill form.
[atmospheric music becomes distorted]
[Alexis] I was not capable of stopping.
[Andrea] They were doing some drugs that I wasn't ever familiar with.
My drugs of choice were hallucinogenics and cocaine. [chuckles]
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."
[Alexis] Our addiction got crazy.
So, she asked Tess to leave.
And I followed suit.
[Nick] My parents went out of town, and I had my house to myself,
and Alexis was having problems with drugs and issues at home with her mother,
and I invited her to, you know, stay with me.
[Alexis] Hi, Nicky, I'm recording you.
Hot bitch.
[Alexis] 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."
[scoffs]
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 realize,
you have to share more the more people that are there, it's less of a profit.
So, it was on to the next.
[paparazzo] Orlando! Orlando!
I remember this one pretty well. [laughs]
Orlando Bloom was a megastar.
Huge blockbuster movies.
The highest-profile person that we had targeted, thus far.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Nick] 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.
[Alexis] 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.
[Nick] Rachel wanted to bring her friend Diana.
[sighs] I felt traded in.
Like, she traded me in for a different model.
But if you're gonna bring Diana, then I'll bring someone else in.
I'll bring Alexis, even though I've been avoiding it.
So, um, begrudgingly, I brought her.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Alexis] 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.
[chuckling]
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.
[car doors opening and closing]
[director] 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.
[chuckling]
Alexis was very much aware that she was outside Orlando Bloom's house.
No.
[sighs softly]
Oh well.
[mischievous music playing]
I remember there was a camera in the tree by the house.
[Nick] We'd 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.
[Alexis] There was a sliding door that opened.
We all split up and started shopping.
Alexis started bagging up shit for herself.
[Alexis] 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 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.
[Nick] Whatever.
I went to his closet.
[inhales]
Just took a ton of his clothes. [exhales] Um...
"Oh fuck. If I get caught, I'm screwed."
[Nick] All of a sudden, I hear, "Oh my God."
Big score.
Like, ten Rolex watches and like five grand 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.
We didn't want to share them with her 'cause we didn't want her there anyway.
[Alexis] I grabbed a Louis Vuitton computer bag,
and I grabbed a black sequin dress.
[Nick] We started making our exit out of the house.
- [Alexis] In and out. - On this kind of high...
Drove home.
[phone ringing]
[Andrea] 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, "Okay, come home."
[director] Nick was into something. Did you inquire as to what that was?
She did not go into any detail at all, but it felt dark.
It felt very dark.
[intense music playing]
Come on, let's just...
[paparazzo 1] Thank you, Orlando. Appreciate it. Thank you very much.
[paparazzo 2] I'm 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.
[police siren blares]
[Greg] 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 recognized and, ultimately, more serious.
Just takes this to a different level.
[relaxing music playing]
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. [laughs]
Orlando Bloom 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 wanted to have that attention.
[sinuous music playing]
[Perez] 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 made... It's democratized fame.
[Nick] Myspace was really groundbreaking.
I mean, you were really able to personalize a page
that you tried to have represent who you were.
Myspace was like the prototype for Facebook.
For young kids, who don't feel comfortable in your skin yet,
and you wanna be, like, in the know,
it's highly addictive.
[Perez] 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.
[Nick] I wanted people to want what I had.
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.
[Nick] You would post albums just full of, you know,
a hundred photos of, "This was my night out."
[laughs]
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.
[Alexis] We heard back from E! Entertainment,
and they were interested in picking up the show.
This felt like, "Wow."
"We're gonna do this."
"This is it."
[Andrea] 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.
[Alexis] 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.
[Nick] They started kind of distancing themselves.
I think a part of them thought they were on a different level now,
and they didn't really need me anymore now that they had this show.
It bothered me.
[Andrea] They had their own income that was about to start flowing in,
and they were flying high, you know, literally. [chuckles]
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.
T.I. 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, like, 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.
[Nick] Alexis didn't want to rob anymore.
And I just... I mean, at least for me, I...
I almost didn't know how to stop.
By not committing crimes anymore and, you know,
essentially losing that lifestyle,
I would not be able to afford this illusion that I had created.
That's scary, you know, um...
So, you know, I just kind of went back more with Rachel.
[rock music playing]
Lindsay Lohan is facing new legal troubles.
- Lindsay Lohan. - Lindsay Lohan.
[reporter] Lindsay Lohan.
[Nick] 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.
[reporter 2] 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.
[intense music plays]
[Nick] 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 a scarf like, half-assed laid over my head with a hat.
However, I didn't feel comfortable.
There was no exit behind the house through the backyard.
It dropped off a cliff.
Lindsay could be home any minute. I was more uneasy than usual.
But Rachel and my friendship had slowly become based on,
you know, committing burglaries.
So, essentially by stopping,
I'd be ending the relationship with Rachel.
When we were together, we committed crimes.
That was what we did.
We boosted Diana into a window.
Diana went in and unlocked the door.
I'd never seen a house with so much stuff.
[Bizet's "Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre" from Carmen playing]
Diana and Rachel, their heads exploded.
You know, they didn't know where to begin, what to take, what to do.
It was like Hoarders: Luxury.
There was the awe, you know, factor of it all.
I said, "Let's hit it."
We left.
My car was stuffed.
[atmospheric music playing]
[mouse clicking]
[cash register dings]
[unsettling music playing]
[camera shutter clicking]
[paparazzo] Officer, do you have a suspect already?
[Greg] 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 recognized the Lohan case and the Patridge case,
it's the same people.
So, once again, we approached TMZ.
[Nick] I was doing my usual checks,
and that's when...
[suspenseful music playing]
[puffs]
[Nick] 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."
[Alexis] We were all kind of like,
"This is bad. This is really fucking bad."
[Nick] I instantly went into paranoia mode.
So, what I did, just to protect myself,
was move all the stolen property from every burglary I had
to a storage facility at my grandmother's.
[suspenseful music continues]
[religious choral music playing]
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.
[phone ringing]
[Gabbie] If they had told me they were gonna do that,
I would have said that that was stupid, and they shouldn't do that.
They were basically telling on themselves.
[choral music continues]
The investigators simply logged on to 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."
[spellbinding music playing]