Actress Kirsten Dunst had her own heist drama before the infamous Bling Ring started making headlines. Flashback to August 9, 2007—Dunst’s Soho Grand Hotel penthouse was allegedly raided by two men who walked away with her iPod, a $13,000 purse, and other valuables. Yep, her How to Lose Friends and Alienate People shoot that day took an unexpected turn.
According to reports, the suspects waited for Dunst to leave with British actor Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) and her assistant, Liat Baruch. Security cameras later caught the men leaving the scene, but not without a catch: one of the alleged robbers, Jarrod Beinerman, was arrested shortly after. His defense? He claimed they left the penthouse empty-handed. “[He] went there to check out what was going on,” said his attorney, James Kirschner. Sure, Jan.
Adding a sprinkle of mid-2000s drama, Beinerman updated his MySpace mood to “worried” after the arrest—a detail that screamed peak 2007. His alleged partner-in-crime, James Jimenez, was also later identified, and both denied the charges. Fast-forward to their 2010 trial, where things got weird. Jimenez’s lawyer cooked up a bold theory: the duo wasn’t there to rob anyone—they were there to deliver weed to Kirsten Dunst.
The claim didn’t sit well with the actress, who snapped, “No!” when asked in court if she smoked marijuana. Pegg backed her up with an equally emphatic, “Absolutely not!” But Jimenez’s lawyer wasn’t convinced. “I don’t think there’s a person on this planet who would believe… she doesn’t smoke marijuana,” he told New York Daily News.
If that wasn’t bizarre enough, Jimenez’s defense leaned on the idea that he was too “dumb” to pull off the robbery, with his lawyer bluntly referring to him as a “Mongoloid.” During sentencing, Jimenez pleaded, “I don’t understand the charges,” only for the judge to fire back, “I understand because I presided over this trial and I’m familiar with all the evidence.” She sentenced him to four years in prison, while Beinerman got four and a half.
Unfortunately for Kirsten Dunst, her ordeal didn’t serve as a warning to Hollywood. By the time the dust settled, the Bling Ring had already struck, raiding the homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Megan Fox, and other A-listers.
So, next time you hear about celebrity robberies, remember—Dunst’s Soho Grand saga was the prequel to the infamous Bling Ring. But instead of glitter and glam, this one involved stolen purses, MySpace updates, and a lot of courtroom chaos.
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