ST. GEORGE — The efforts of a St. George Police detective working with state and federal agents led to the arrest of three Columbian Nationals working in concert with an international crime ring allegedly responsible for distraction crimes in multiple states.
The warrant was issued following a months-long investigation into a May 18 incident involving the theft of two purses while the customers were shopping. This led investigators to suspect the incidents were part of one of the distraction crime rings that recently hit the area, according to the affidavit filed in support of the arrest warrant.
The first incident was reported at a home improvement store on River Road shortly in St George. It involved two Hispanic men wearing bucket hats entering the store behind the victim, as captured on the store’s surveillance footage.
When the customer stepped away from the cart, the suspects removed the wallet from the woman’s purse, which was sitting in the shopping cart.
Within minutes of the theft, the victim’s bank cards were used to charge more than $1,138 at a retail store in the same shopping complex.
Surveillance footage from that store showed one man using the victim’s card at a self-checkout line, while the second suspect was a Hispanic male who was not wearing the hat but appeared to possibly be wearing a wig.
The customer’s card was used to make two purchases totaling more than $1,050 at a pharmacy on Bluff Street where the same men were seen on the store’s surveillance footage that matched the suspects reportedly involved in the theft at the home improvement store.
The third transaction for $1,080 was at a big box retailer on Pioneer Road in St. George. In total, more than $3,200 was charged.
About an hour later, the second victim’s wallet was reportedly stolen from her purse while she shopped at a local grocery store on Bluff Street.
The cards taken from both victims were then used at the big-box retailer on Pioneer Road at the same time, the report alleges, and the transactions took place in quick succession to one another. Six of the fraudulent transactions were made using the second victim’s bank and credit cards and resulted in a loss of more than $6,250.
During each incident, the same two men made the purchases, while a third male was seen “hovering” around the store “acting as a lookout,” the officer noted.
Once the transactions were completed, the video captured all three men leaving the store at the same time and then driving away in a Honda CRV with California plates.
In total, there were more than $9,450 in fraudulent charges between the victims.
The three suspects were identified and a bulletin was transmitted to all surrounding agencies, including Homeland Security Investigation agents who later provided a photo of a suspect that matched one of the individuals inside two of the stores.
That suspect was identified as Jairo Gavida-Monroy, 37, a Columbian National, who is now in custody in Washington County.
A second suspect was identified as Andres Fabian Villanueva-Rodriguez, 32, along with a third suspect whose identity is still being confirmed by federal authorities.
In the days and weeks of the bulletin being released, detectives from law enforcement agencies across the country started reporting similar cases involving the same suspects, including two county agencies in Southern California and multiple departments in Wisconsin, along with detectives in Illinois and Nebraska.
Detectives also obtained further evidence indicating the Honda the suspects were traveling in had been in each of those areas during the time of the incidents. They also learned the theft spree took place during a five-week period starting in April and included the crimes reportedly committed in St. George.
On June 25, detectives in St. George were notified that all three suspects were arrested near Milwaukie and were in custody in Wisconsin. Monroy is now in custody in Washington County, while the remaining two have yet to return to Utah.
Monroy has been charged with two second-degree felony charges, including theft and pattern of unlawful activity, along with seven third-degree felony counts of unlawful acquisition of a financial card — one for each card reportedly stolen. The suspect also faces seven misdemeanor counts of theft.
Monroy remains in custody without bail.
Utah AG launches program to address international crime groups
Roughly 30% of the cases received by the Economic Crimes Task Force, a program run out of the Utah Attorney General’s Office, are directly related to domestic and international traveling theft groups, which have also hit Southern Utah multiple times over the last several years.
A majority of these traveling crime groups are coming out of California, and they typically hit Southern Utah which is part of their travel route, along with Las Vegas Nevada, Boise, Idaho, and so on as they continue towards the Pacific Northwest.
Most groups are specialized in the type of merchandise they steal and use specific tools to defeat anti-theft devices, including spider wire and magnet boxes, and they generally focus on two retailers to carry out their schemes.
The four most common schemes involved retail theft, gift cards, fuel thefts and card skimmers.
The stolen merchandise is then transported back to California where it is either fenced or shipped out of the country.
The task force is addressing these groups that typically hit multiple jurisdictions by conducting retail theft blitz operations that are a collaborative effort between state and local law enforcement to identify and prosecute those responsible.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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