Hawthorne police have recovered a hard drive containing more than $1 million worth of original music that was stolen recently from a car belonging to Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, rapper Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy Award winning mixer.

The theft occurred Dec. 7 when two men broke into Ali’s BMW i8 and two other vehicles parked outside the Equinox gym on Rosecrans Avenue in Hawthorne.

Attempts to reach Ali on Wednesday were unsuccessful. Police said Ali was grateful that officers found the hard drive and returned it to him.

‘Very happy’

“He is very, very happy,” Hawthorne police Lt. James Royer said.

Another copy, however, remains at large. The device is encrypted so it is of no use to whoever has it. Still, Ali was glad to get one copy back, Royer said.

It was unclear whether the hard drive contained works by Lamar or other artists.

Ali, who grew up in Gardena, is a 27-year-old sound engineer for Top Dawg Entertainment. In 2015, he won a Grammy for mixing Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly.” He is nominated for two Grammys in 2018 — “Album of the Year” for mixing Lamar’s “DAMN.” and “Record of the Year” for mixing “HUMBLE.”

“Ali is just as important as the person writing, making the beats and expressing himself on the microphone,” Lamar told OZY.com in a 2016 article. “They say there’s an actual frequency that hits a nerve connected to your brain and makes you say that you like a song. That’s something that Ali understands very well.”

Fingerprint left behind

Detectives recovered the music following the Dec. 8 arrest of Jonjairo Espinoza, 23, of Los Angeles who left his fingerprint on Ali’s car door during a break-in a day earlier, Royer said.

Espinoza and another man being sought have since been tied to car burglaries in Hawthorne, Carson, Torrance and Los Angeles, stealing property that included an off-duty sheriff’s deputy’s handgun, passes to Sea World in San Diego, golf clubs, clothing, power tools, cologne and car parts. Besides the break-ins outside the Equinox gym, burglaries occurred outside a 24 Hour Fitness in Carson and shopping centers in Torrance, Royer said.

“Basically these guys are serial car burglars,” Royer said. “They prey upon victims who leave items viewable from the outside.”

Using a spring-activated device that pierced glass windows to get inside, the alleged burglars took property in seconds, Royer said.

Victims, including Ali, reported three crimes on Dec. 7 in Hawthorne.

Security footage

Security camera footage revealed two men in a white hatchback were responsible for at least two of the crimes. A Hawthorne police forensic investigator lifted the fingerprint off of Ali’s car, Royer said.

Police quickly identified Espinoza as a suspect and investigated two addresses linked to him. They found the white car in Hacienda Heights, Royer said.

Investigators put the car under surveillance and soon saw Espinoza move items from another vehicle into the white hatchback and drive away. Officers pulled him over and arrested him.

The hard-drive was in Espinoza’s car.

“I don’t think he knows what he had,” Royer said.

Detectives later searched the Hacienda Heights address, and an location in the 1100 block of South Herbert Avenue in Los Angeles.

Fourteen victims

“We found gift cards, video recorders, Luis Vuitton bags, golf clubs,” Royer said. “We are up to 14 different victims.”

Police have not tied all of the items to specific crimes, but have identified the property from five burglaries reported in Hawthorne, four in Torrance, two in Los Angeles and two in Carson, Royer said.

Prosecutors have charged Espinoza with seven counts of burglary and three counts of grand theft. He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Dec. 12 in Compton court. He was released on bail three days later and is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 28.

Los Angeles County Superior Court records show Espinoza is charged with eight counts of burglary in another case and is scheduled to appear in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Thursday.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect position for mixer Derek “MixedByAli” Ali.