HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. -- The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of five suspects being called the 'Hole-in-the-wall group' who were involved in a string of statewide business burglaries.
Beginning in July 2018, deputies noticed a trend of business burglaries using the same method of getting into the buildings: a hole in the wall.
"The suspects would cut a hole in the exterior wall to gain entry and then once inside, they would damage the security system and compromise the computers with the alarm systems," Major Kristin Poore said during a press conference Wednesday. "They would also cut holes in the walls to make entry into an adjoining business."
Deputies also noticed that the business break-ins were near U-Haul burglaries and figured out the group would transport stolen items from the businesses using stolen U-Haul trailers.
Stolen items from businesses ranged from liquor, jewelry and tires to cigarettes. One of the main detectives on the case, Ashely Lindeman, said the group would then sell the stolen goods to other businesses.
Detectives met with investigators from other agencies and identified six suspects involved. Three of them are known to have been involved in similar types of crimes in the past, authorities said.
Investigators said four of the suspects were caught when they burglarized a business while detectives were doing surveillance on Sept. 29. Michael Rodriguez, Yanet Fernandez, Alexi Ludena Espinosa, and Jorge Luis Adan Gonzalez were arrested and charged during a burglary at a Family Dollar in Polk County.
Remberto Gonzalez was arrested on a warrant in Miami.
There is an active warrant for Leandro Leyva for racketeering and burglary charges.
The 'hole-in-the-wall group' is suspected of being involved in at least 14 business burglaries with a suspected property loss of $830,000 in Central Florida alone.
Daniel Carvajal is the manager of Liry’s Jewelry which was one of the places deputies say the burglars hit.
“I didn’t think they could get in through the wall. It was pretty crazy to drive up and see a hole in the wall,” he said.
Luckily, the burglars didn’t get away with anything from his business because the jewelry was locked in safe. The cost to fix the mess left behind added up to be thousands of dollars. Deputies say in each case the burglars smashed the alarms, cameras and computer systems.
“They went straight for the alarm system. destroyed the alarm system. Didn’t have an alarm for like two days,” Carvajal.
Tampa Fishing Outfitters was also hit. “They went through a block wall and were able to get in through the store,” said operations manager Raymond Grau.
When we stopped by today, coincidently they were victims to another burglary, which Tampa police say is not related. Grau say the burglary hits close to home for he and most of the workers.
“Some of us work five of six days a week. We spend a lot of hours, so a lot of our time is here as oppose to being at home,” he said
The original four suspects are facing racketeering charges with a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison -- if convicted.
“It’s great they got caught. It just brings a peace of mind to everyone who got broken in to,” Carvajal said.
Deputies continue to investigate for possible other connected burglaries and crimes; so more charges could be filed.
"The coordinated efforts and intelligence sharing by law enforcement agencies throughout our region should be commended," Poore added. "This is very crucial for the success of this operation."
Anyone with additional information that could help detectives should contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at 813-247-8200.
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