According to court documents, four men from Chile have been charged in an ongoing investigation of burglaries across the country at the homes of wealthy and sometimes famous people.
The four have been linked to a Dec. 9 burglary in Hamilton County, Ohio, authorities said in filings, a time and place that coincided with a break-in at the home of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. . Although Burrow is not named as a victim in the documents, detectives found a Bengals hat allegedly stolen during a December break-in in the SUV used by the suspects, the documents said. was
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that a grand jury returned indictments against the four in court on Tuesday. These include charges of corrupt activity, participation in a criminal gang and possession of burglary tools, according to a statement. He credited the Southwest Ohio Burglary Task Force, which his office launched last year, to investigate the break-ins.
A Yost spokeswoman said the indictments were returned at a preliminary hearing in which the defendants did not enter pleas. Ohio Criminal Procedure Petitions for serious cases need not be filed in such hearings.
According to the local lawsuit filed Jan. 13 in Springfield Municipal Court, the original criminal complaint included those allegations as well as obstructing investigators. Authorities alleged in the filing that three of the four presented false identification to police.
Investigators say an LSU football shirt believed to have been stolen on Dec. 9 was also seen in a Chevrolet SUV when Ohio State Police investigated the theft on Jan. 10 on Interstate 70. It was stopped, according to the initial filing. Burrow graduated from Louisiana State University, where he played his final two seasons of college football.
One of the four, 23-year-old Bastian Alejandro Morales, was accused of having a cell phone he was determined to have in the area of the Dec. 9 home burglary, and he was in the area of a prior burglary. The sighting was seen in a Volkswagen SUV, investigators said Court documents on Jan. 13.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office reported that Burrow’s home in Anderson Township was broken into on that date. At the time, Burrow was in Arlington, Texas, where he played in his team’s win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Bro’s agent and the Bengals did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday night.
In the fall, the NFL and NBA, the latter citing FBI intelligence, warned professional players and their employers about what the NBA described as an “international South American theft group” that Targeting “professional athletes and other high-net-worth individuals”.
Starting in 2024, athletes who have been victims of residential break-ins include Burrow, Kansas City Chiefs stars Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr., Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Donek and the fiancee of the Dallas Cowboys. Prescott.
Stars’ locations are often matters of public record, even with advertised home games showing they’re not actually at home.
The four suspects, who were arrested and booked into the Clark County Jail, have been identified as Morales. Sergio Andres Cabello, 38; Jordan Francisco Sanchez, 22; and Alejandro Esteban Huaiquil-Chavez, 24. The documents describe all of them as Chilean nationals who are accused of “overstaying their permits.”
He was initially detained for being in the country illegally, officials said in the documents. All the inmates were being held without bail Tuesday evening, according to records. All four have pleaded not guilty to the initial charges, court records show.
It is unclear whether he has retained a lawyer. The public defender’s office in Clark County did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Todd Spitzer, district attorney in Orange County, California, blamed some of the crimes committed by Chileans on U.S. soil on the Automated Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which allows 90 days for those under the Visa Waiver Program. Clears for passes. Allowing citizens of 42 countries to enter and stay with relative ease.
“For the past 18 months, I have been sounding the alarm about a dangerous loophole in the ESTA visa waiver program that Chilean organized criminals have been taking advantage of to allow unlimited time in the U.S. for two years without a background check. going in,” Spitzer said last month.
“These criminals are not coming to America to visit Disneyland,” he said via email.
Although investigators have not directly charged the four Ohio suspects with involvement in any of the nationwide burglaries that have targeted wealthy individuals, star athletes and some celebrities, Clark County Sheriff’s detectives The criminal complaint, based on Brian Melchi’s narrative, said the suspects were targeted. “Part of ongoing investigation involving burglaries of multi-million dollar homes in multiple states.”
According to the criminal complaint, an Ohio State Highway Patrol traffic stop of the SUV carrying the defendants on Jan. 10 occurred while they were staying at a Fairfield hotel, making it clear they were under surveillance.
Inside the SUV, investigators said in court documents, was the smell of marijuana, as well as two husky tools used to punch out windows that are often found in the possession of South American thieves.
The cell phone allegedly in Morales’ possession and connected to the area of the Dec. 9 burglary came to the attention of investigators searching for the Chevrolet Blazer when one of the detectives called a “target” number that the investigation called. was known for and the device alleged. According to the complaint, bright to belong to Morales.
“Investigators have arrested at least six different South American theft groups, five of which were from Chile,” the filing said.
Associated with NBC WLWT of Cincinnatiwho has access to court documents, reported that, to his knowledge, Burrow’s was the only multimillion-dollar home burglarized in Hamilton County on Dec. 9.
