A Miami-Dade man is still being sought in connection with an operation targeting a massive organized retail theft scheme that ripped off hardware stores throughout Florida, authorities said.
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Roberto Hernandez-Castro, 39, is wanted as part of “Operation Hammer Time,” Martin County Sheriff’s Office officials said.
Sheriff’s office Maj. Ruben Romero held a news conference Tuesday to discuss the operation, which targeted the Miami-Dade-based suspects.
Two other suspects – 19-year-old Johnny Batista and 31-year-old Roberto Aldana Ferrera, have been arrested and are facing charges including grand theft, racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and burglary, authorities said.
A fourth suspect, Maikell Fleitas, died in Pembroke Pines after committing a burglary, Romero said.
“Mr. Freitas had just done committing a burglary when he went to the doctor for his medical emergency and he passed away there,” Romero said. “Hernandez-Castro is the one that drove him to the hospital and he passed away at the hospital.”
Authorities said the suspects committed smash-and-grab burglaries at local hardware stores and small businesses, taking high-end tools and leaving without paying.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise was stolen along with thousands of dollars in damages, officials said.
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“We at least are estimating at least half a million dollars worth of property that was stolen from these stores,” Romero said. “And that’s not to mention the damage that they caused to these stores for them to repair their glass or whatever, you know, happened to their buildings or facilities.”
The thefts were committed at at least 40 stores across 13 Florida counties, including Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, Orange, Polk, Brevard, Seminole, St. Lucie, Indian River, Duval, Sarasota, and Pinellas.
The stolen items were brought to Miami-Dade to be sold, authorities said.
Romero said a burglary in December helped detectives break the case open, and said a car used in one burglary had been registered to one of the suspects’ mothers in Miami-Dade.
The group is suspected in at least one incident in Broward in which thieves cut a hole in a wall to access a business, authorities said.
“The state of Florida has a big problem with retail theft and burglaries and people traveling across county lines to commit crimes. And I think we took a substantial group, an organization, that has affected the state of Florida,” Romero said. “I mean, prices are constantly going up in retail stores and for equipment and for tools. And this is the reason why, these four guys that look like just the run of the mill burglar, they’re the reason why some of these prices are through the roof.”
Hernandez-Castro is currently at large and has an active arrest warrant, and there could be more suspects charged in the ring, officials said.
“This group of criminals carefully orchestrated thefts across at least thirteen counties to turn over illicit proceeds as quickly as possible,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement last week. “In Florida, our Organized Retail Theft Task Force will dismantle theft rings, keep retail costs low for consumers, and protect hard-working Floridians.”
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