Posts in category: Arrests

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. � March 26, 2024 – Federal authorities say they tracked an ex-con from his home on Staten Island to a jewelry store heist in Brooklyn.

Pierre Hunt, 52, of Bulls Head, drew a silver handgun on two employees inside the Bedford-Stuyvesant location on the afternoon of Jan. 8, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court.

After retrieving $200 cash from the register, he asked if there was anything else to hand over, to which one of the employees replied there was not, authorities allege.

So the defendant, according to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigation, fired off a shot within inches of an employee�s head. The bullet ricocheted and struck a wall, officials said.

He fled in a 2017 Nissan Rogue parked about a block away, with mismatched side mirrors, according to a complaint filed March 18 by the Department of Justice.

Surveillance images also showed the same individual sporting large diamond earrings.

A week later, Hunt was pulled over by police in an SUV matching the same description, with what appeared to be the same earrings, federal prosecutors say.

He handed over a license to officers that showed a Staten Island address. The vehicle was registered to someone else with the same address.

A federal judge signed off on a search warrant in February, which yielded data which authorities included in their request for an arrest warrant in the case.

Cell phone data, and a license plate reader on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge showed that on the day in question, Hunt made the trip to the Brooklyn neighborhood where the robbery was reported, court filings allege. The same data indicated he was back home on the Island just over an hour later.

Months prior to the stickup, authorities say, he made a transaction at a pawn shop providing the same driver�s license.

The case is federal because the store deals in interstate commerce, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney�s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

A public defender for Hunt could not be reached for comment Monday.

The defendant previously was charged as the wheelman in a pair of 2015 stickups at a gas station and a wine store in Queens, culminating in a year on Rikers Island.

He also did 18 months upstate for a 2017 felony drug conviction, records show.

Article provided by Staten Island Advance staff. Click here to read the article.

Above : Asdrubal Rodriguez, 35

PALM COAST, Florida.� – March 14, 2024 – A man who is accused of robbing a Texas jewelry store of a significant value in jewelry was arrested in Palm Coast this week, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO).

Deputies said when Asdrubal Rodriguez, 35, was pulled over, approximately $79,000 in cash and gold jewelry, all taken from the robbery in Houston, was found in his SUV.

Just before 6 p.m. on Tuesday, deputies responded to the area of Palm Coast Parkway and I-95 after technology from the Real Time Crime Center indicated the Maryland tag on a Black Chevrolet Tahoe came back tied to suspects believed to be involved in a violent armed robbery in Houston three days prior. In the heist, robbers took jewelry and cash valued at a significant monetary value and were believed to be armed and dangerous.

Deputies said they later found the SUV in a parking lot off Kings Way in Palm Coast, but the tag was obstructed. After two men loaded groceries into the SUV, they left the parking lot and ran a stop sign, deputies said. Deputies followed the vehicle for several turns and eventually pulled them over.

Rodriguez told deputies that he has never been issued a driver’s license in the United States, nor does he have a driver’s license from his home country of Cuba. FCSO used its Rapid-ID technology to verify his identity and he was arrested for driving without a license. Rapid-ID uses fingerprints on file to identify a person. After getting a search warrant, deputies said they found the gold and cash. According to FCSO, Rodriguez later confessed to committing the robbery at the jewelry store as well as pistol-whipping and spraying the victims with pepper spray during the robbery. ICE was contacted regarding both men and an ICE Detainer was obtained for Rodriguez, deputies said.

Rodriguez is being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility on a $500 bond. The second man was released from the scene with no charges after ICE declined to respond. On Wednesday, Houston Police got a warrant for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and the warrant is in the process of being served on Rodriguez.

The warrant states that on Monday, March 11, Rodriguez and another man entered a jewelry store in Houston. While asking an employee about a piece of jewelry, that employee and the owner were both pepper-sprayed. The warrant states that the employee was also pistol-whipped. The two men then grabbed jewelry worth a significant value and ran from the store. One of the robbers who pistol-whipped the employee accidentally dropped his cell phone before running from the store. Police confiscated the cell phone as evidence.

The entire incident was recorded on store surveillance video and according to the warrant, neither robber covered their face. An exterior security camera recorded the two men leaving the store and jumping into a Nissan SUX that was driven by a third person. Cameras also recorded the Nissan SUV being followed by the same Chevy SUV with Maryland tags that was later pulled over in Palm Coast by Flagler County deputies.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Rodriguez told detectives that he was recruited to assist in the jewelry heist. He said his role was to enter the store with a trash bag and take the jewelry. The warrant states that Rodriguez told investigators that most of the stolen jewelry was sold in Houston to a buyer and that he was delivering the remaining pieces of jewelry to and cash from the jewelry sold in Houston to someone in Miami. Rodriguez was shown a surveillance picture of an unmasked robber inside the jewelry store and he reportedly identified himself as the person in the picture and gave more details about his role in the violent heist.

“Another criminal made the fatal mistake of coming to Flagler County not knowing that we work with our partners across the country,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “Our Major Case detectives are working with detectives in Houston for his connection to the jewelry store heist. We believe this robbery is part of a larger network of illegal immigrants committing crimes in America. I commend our deputies and the amazing professionals in the Real Time Crime Center and our Communications Center for helping bring this criminal to justice.”

Click here to view video an read the original unredacted article written by Eric Avenier and Travis Gibson.

Please contact the Jewelers Security Alliance at 212-687-0328 or jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org if you have any additional information about the suspects involved in this crime.

Santa Barbara, California -March 18, 2024 – Detectives with the Santa Barbara Police Department have arrested a suspect in a string of recent crimes targeting local jewelry stores.

According to police spokesperson Ethan Ragsdale, one robbery and two grand thefts/burglaries occurred at three jewelry stores in Santa Barbara between February and March. The total value of the stolen jewelry was estimated at around $53,000, Ragsdale said.

Following weeks of investigation, detectives identified 40-year-old Santa Barbara resident Omar Velazquez Sanchez as the suspect in the case. On March 15 at around 10 p.m., SBPD detectives and the SWAT team arrested Sanchez near the intersection of Quintettos Street and South Milpas Street “without incident,” Ragsdale said.

According to Ragsdale, detectives located multiple items of jewelry on Sanchez during his arrest that police believe are from the involved jewelry stores. A loaded firearm with a removed serial number that�s believed to have been used during the one robbery was also found in the car Sanchez was driving, Ragsdale said. His bail was set at $250,000.

Click here to read the original article written by Jackson Friedman.

LINCOLN, Neb.- March 14, 2024 – Lincoln Police are hopeful that two robberies have been solved after arresting a man on multiple warrants. On Wednesday, officers took 23-year-old Rolando Camareno into custody on five county warrants, two of which regard felony theft and burglary. Camareno was also a suspect in two robberies between 2023 and 2024.

One of the robberies included a jewelry store at a mall. which was robbed on Oct. 6, 2023. Video surveillance shows a man in a grey sweatshirt smashing a glass case with a hammer before pushing an employee to the ground. The suspect then broke a different glass case open and made off with $10,000 worth of jewelry.

Police later developed Camareno as a suspect in the robbery, and he was questioned about it after being arrested. He claimed to have been robbed of $10,000 in the days leading up to the robbery and was looking for quick way to get money, according to his arrest affidavit.

Officers think Camareno was inspired to rob the shop after listening to a rap song “where the individual used a hammer to break glass and collect jewelry.” Camareno was also questioned about a robbery on Feb. 17 after a 19-year-old claimed someone stole his backpack. The teen said he was walking home from school when a car without plates pulled up to him in a parking lot. A man got out of the car and demanded his belongings before flashing a handgun in his waistband, police wrote. The victim claimed the suspect told him, “if you�re gonna run, I�m gonna shoot you.” He handed over his backpack, and the suspect drove off with multiple cards and a Lincoln Public Schools Chromebook, court records show.

Police also thought Camareno to be a suspect in this theft and asked him about the incident. He claimed that the backpack had been stolen from a friend and that he was getting it back, police wrote. He also denied having a firearm. Camareno is currently being lodged on the robbery charges alongside his warrants. He was arraigned on two robbery charges on Thursday, and his bond was set at 10% of $100,000. His next court date is scheduled for April 18.

Click here to read the unredacted article written by 10/11 NOW news.

Ocala, Florida – February 21, 2024 – Police have arrested a man who they say robbed a northeast Ocala jewelry store a week ago. Authorities said the man, Michael Deon Woulard, is a suspect in a similar jewelry holdup in another county that took place several months ago. Ocala Police Detective Denise Drake and Jacksonville officials interviewed Woulard last week about the jewelry store robberies. Local officials said Woulard admitted to committing the crime at the jewelry store in Ocala. He told detectives he committed the robberies because he wanted money, according to an arrest affidavit.

Woulard was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and Gainesville authorities after a traffic stop on Feb. 21, the day after the Ocala armed robbery.

A search warrant for the vehicle Woulard was driving at the time he was detained was obtained. Detectives said they recovered a large amount of jewelry from the vehicle. Detective Austin Ridge of the Ocala Police Department assisted Drake with the investigation.

Ocala officials said they don’t think Woulard was involved in two jewelry heists at the Paddock Mall that occurred in late January and early February. On Feb. 20, the day before Woulard’s arrest, Ocala police officers said a man, believed to be Woulard, entered the jewelry store in Ocala. T

Police said the robber wore dark clothing and a face covering. Armed with a firearm, the man ordered two employees into the bathroom, then broke display cases and removed large amount of jewels. The robber fled and police were called.

During the investigation, detectives were made aware of a similar robbery in Jacksonville. Jacksonville authorities were contacted. Investigators found similarities in the crimes and the description of the gunman.

Authorities in Jacksonville had DNA evidence that they say linked Woulard to their holdup. Due to the connection, detectives from both Jacksonville and Ocala combined their resources to apprehend Woulard.

A warrant for Woulard’s arrest was issued on Feb. 26 for robbery, false imprisonment, drug possession and tampering with evidence. He also has a warrant from Duval County for robbery.

Criminal record

The Ocala store was closed from Feb. 20 until Feb. 23. An armed security guard was in the store when the Star-Banner reporter visited the business on Tuesday. Asked if the store always had security, the woman told the reporter she could not answer that question.

Police officials they have not specifically assigned any personnel to the store and believe the armed guard is privately retained by the store.

Though Woulard does not have a criminal record in Marion County, state documents show he has been in and out of prison since July 2011 for various crimes such as drug trafficking. According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website, Woulard is a designated sexual predator with convictions for lewd or lascivious exhibition on a victim younger than 16 in Duval County.

Click here to read the original source of this article from the Ocala StarBanner.