“We may not be able to take you there right away, but it’s coming,” Officer Chapman said. “We’re not holding back in Texas. We’re just not holding back.”
GRAPEVINE, Texas — Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story’s headline stated that the theft charges totals were inaccurate and WFAA regretted the error.
Security video obtained by WFAA shows a man involved in large-scale cargo heists across North Texas. The video is key evidence in a major investigation for several law enforcement agencies.
“Oh, that’s amazing,” said the sergeant. Oscar Ramirez: “It’s great to capture their performance, so to speak.”
Sergeant Oscar Ramirez is the supervisor of the Grapevine Police Department. Police said last May that the suspects cut a hole in the warehouse’s garage door to avoid setting off the alarm. The entire act was caught on camera.
Police said the suspects loaded the stolen items into a box truck, which had also been reported stolen.
“This started an investigation as approximately 500,000 products were missing,” Sergeant Ramirez said.
Grapevine Police detectives shared warehouse theft cases with other police departments, including the theft of a box truck used during the robbery. Feedback from other agencies led to more questions and answers in other jurisdictions.
“We received responses from cities like Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano and Coppell,” said Sgt. Ramirez said.
The information shared proved to be a treasure for Plano detectives who had exhausted all avenues.
Officer Jennifer Chapman of the Plano Police Department said detectives take solving crimes personally because of their relationships with the community and business leaders.
“Detectives worked hard to get information and just hit a roadblock,” Chapman said.
The roadblock was broken down as Grapevine police used technology to track down the suspect and wait to strike again. Police said the suspects often kept watch before strikes, but in this case they had no idea detectives were keeping watch at a local warehouse.
“The key was that they would attack at 2 or 3 a.m. in the middle of the night,” said Sgt. Ramirez said.
Grapevine Police say the case involves a major theft involving expensive eyeglasses, with the value of the stolen items valued at more than $514,000. Eligible items include 2,223 pairs of Ray-Ban Supernova Wayfarer glasses and 20 pairs of Oculus goggles. The approximate value of the stolen Ray-Bans alone is estimated at $500,000, contributing to a significant portion of the total loss.
Mobile phones were also stolen three times from warehouses in Coppell. The first theft involved the theft of more than $2.2 million worth of cellphones. The second and third incidents resulted in a total of approximately $2.4 million worth of mobile phones being compromised.
Grapevine PD estimates a total of $6.2 million worth of electronic equipment was stolen over the course of several weeks.
The heist highlights the vulnerability of high-demand goods, and law enforcement and business officials are working hard to recover stolen goods and address the economic loss.
“So we have patrol officers, we have officers with drones, we have K-9 officers, and we’re waiting and hoping they’ll attack,” Sergeant Ramirez said.
During the last raid, police said they arrested a total of seven suspects in one arrest. All have since been released from prison, but face felony charges of organized criminal activity, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Grapevine Police arrested Adrian Ellison, 38. Julius Green, 40 years old. Willie Hill, 38 years old. Eric White, 33 years old. Faizal Kara, 40 years old. Ronnie Bayden, 33 years old. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by WFAA, 38-year-old Derrick White used cell phone data to locate a man near the warehouse where the robbery occurred at the time of the robbery.
“We may not be able to take you there right away, but it’s going to come,” Chapman said. “In Texas, we’re not putting up with it, we’re just not putting up with it.”
