Men accused of links to international burglary arrested using security video, car tracker
Men accused of links to international burglary arrested using security video, car tracker
Documents indicate that investigators had been tracking the suspects for some time, and used security videos and a vehicle tracking device to put them in the area at the time of the burglaries.
LYNNWOOD, Wash. - We're learning more about the arrest and investigation into three suspects that the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said may have been involved in hundreds of burglaries stretching from Bellingham to South Seattle.
Court documents detail what led up to the arrest late last week and how law enforcement connected them to the burglaries in Mukilteo and Lynnwood.
Documents indicate that investigators had been tracking the suspects for some time, and used security videos and a vehicle tracking device to put them in the area at the time of the burglaries.
Melanie Powell said her security cameras were rolling when a man investigators had accused of burglary, passed through a side yard and towards the back of her neighbor's home.
"They came in through the back and jumped the fence from what I was told and broke their door down," said Powell.
Court documents state that a rear sliding door had been smashed there and the home was ransacked.
"I mean you saw him run out of his house within minutes," said Powell. "Hopefully, they catch them because that’s awful."
Powell says she has been checking on her neighbors since the ordeal.
"We have been texting back and forth, trying to make sure they are ok," said Powell.
Court documents state that a multi-jurisdictional investigation has been ongoing since November 2021, with Jhon Riasco-Vergara identified as "a prolific residential burglar of homes of people of various Asian descent, along with numerous co-suspects including Yefferson Rodriguez-Vergara and Tayler Buenanos-Obando."
3 men accused of more than 200 Puget Sound burglaries arrested in Seattle
Three men believed to be responsible for more than 200 burglaries and robberies around the Puget Sound area were arrested in Seattle Thursday afternoon.
Documents say Riasco-Vergara drove a 2018 gray Kia Optima with no plate, potentially used in the crimes, and lived off NE 135th NE in Seattle where the arrest of three men took place late last week.
Deputies reported Riasco-Vergara was captured on video walking into the backyard of the Lynnwood victim's home unmasked, and once inside, "donning a ski mask". Cameras also reportedly captured a gray Kia in the area at the time.
A surveillance camera mounted on a pole near his home also reportedly showed Riasco-Vergara wearing that same distinct jersey, that investigators say was used in the crime, at his house.
When questioned, court documents state that he admitted to being the suspect. The investigator who interviewed him said, "I was told he does burglaries (including this one specifically) to support his family in Columbia (where he is from)."
After the Lynnwood burglary in mid-May, an Asian family in Mukilteo was also targeted in early June. By that point, investigators said a judge had authorized law enforcement to put a tracking device on the vehicle, which they said put the car two houses away from the Mukilteo burglary location.
FOX 13 also confirmed the men are also suspects in three burglaries in Bellevue. Court documents also indicate that the men are suspected of burglaries in King County. FOX 13 has also reached out to King County and are waiting to hear back.