Oklahoma City (Cook) — Eight men were arrested Thursday in Oklahoma City and Edmond. They are accused of stealing a new iPhone from a pouch shortly after it was delivered.
Edmond police announced that they have launched a sting operation to arrest two suspects, Danny Alberto Herrera and Jomar Maria Lopez.
Edmond police believe the two men are part of a national criminal organization that is committing iPhone thefts across the United States.
According to Edmond PD, the ring recently stole about $7 million worth of electronic equipment.
Detective Edmond made a list of deliveries scheduled for October 10th and conducted door-to-door surveillance. A call was received at one of the homes under surveillance, and one of the suspicious vehicles arrived to steal the package. Detectives then began a short pursuit.
One suspect was quickly taken into custody, and the second was found several hours later hiding in the backyard.
Six men were arrested for similar crimes in Oklahoma City. Five of them were from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One was from Taunton, Massachusetts.
Ángel Bautista Ferreiras, Joshua Cabreja, Jonathan Catala, Steben Cuevas, Carlos Martínez Suárez, and Eric Mercedes were arrested on charges of porch pirate theft, conspiracy, and involvement in a series of criminal offenses. .
“We started receiving these reports within the past few weeks,” she said. Dillon Quirk told FOX 25, “We started looking at them and realized that some type of items were being stolen from these pouches. They were electronic equipment and they were very valuable. ” he said.
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported similar iPhone thefts in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Michigan, Georgia, Florida and Texas.
A police lieutenant in One Deer Park, Texas, said the suspects had AT&T package tracking numbers in their possession.
A Deer Park police lieutenant said all of the iPhones were shipped via FedEx.
In Oklahoma City, police said they are still investigating how the suspects knew the date, time and location of the deliveries.
“It is unclear at this time how exactly the suspects determined where and when to deliver the packages,” he said. Quark said. “Pouch theft is nothing new. We investigate pouch thefts all the time, but again, these were the specific devices that were being taken by the suspect.”
FedEx recommends that you request a hold at your location for your shipment. You can also request a signature upon delivery to keep your package safe.
FedEx also says you can redirect your packages to a FedEx office or use Delivery Manager and the app to have more control over the timing and location of your packages.
