Priya Patel
TLDR
Key Points:
- Three suspects arrested for burglarizing Phoenix homes using advanced technology to disable alarms and camera systems.
- Suspects were crime tourists with a history of similar crimes in California, operating between Friday and Sunday between 5-9 p.m.
In recent events, Phoenix police arrested three individuals accused of burglarizing homes in high-end neighborhoods using technology to disable alarms and camera systems. The suspects, identified as crime tourists, targeted homes during dinner-time darkness by scaling walls and entering through vulnerable windows and doors. Law enforcement collaborated to catch the suspects on a Friday evening, the prime time for such burglaries to occur as detailed in court documents. The suspects operated between Friday and Sunday between 5-9 p.m., targeting homes for money, jewelry, designer purses, and entire safes.
Surveillance on a neighborhood near Camelback Mountain led Phoenix police to catch the suspects fleeing from a burglarized home. The suspects used advanced Wi-Fi and cellular signal jammers to disable security systems, a tactic similar to California burglaries reported in January. Police observed the suspects entering the property by jumping over the wall, leading to a car crash when attempting to flee in their getaway vehicle. Three suspects were arrested, one of whom had a window punch tool in possession.
The suspects, of Chilean descent, were in the U.S. on expired travel visas with fraudulent Spanish IDs, part of a transnational organized crime group with a history of burglary and other offenses. Considered an extreme flight risk, the suspects were charged with various crimes including burglary and resisting arrest, each held on a $200,000 cash-only bond.
