“Bulldogging” investigators conducted round-the-clock surveillance—watching an alleged gang of international crooks using an actual bulldog as cover while casing homes.
At a press conference on May 28, Scottsdale Police Officer Aaron Bolin noted, “It was almost like a movie.”
Just before an exceptionally crime-filled Memorial Day weekend, Scottsdale Police put a halt to a potential sequel to last year’s “dinner-time bandits.”
In early 2024, law enforcement identified an unofficial group as the “South American Theft Group” that used tourist visas to loot North Scottsdale residences.
The stealthy thieves plundered 100 Valley houses, including 39 in North Scottsdale. Scottsdale police captured three Chilean criminals near Pima and Jomax roads, putting an end to the winter-spring crime spree.
So now…
“Seven people, believed to be part of a South American theft group, were arrested by Scottsdale detectives for their involvement in two valley burglaries,” Bolin told reporters on May 23.
That afternoon, after witnessing the group burglarize Tempe and Mesa residences, Scottsdale officers who were closely following the “crime tourists” apprehended and arrested the seven culprits.
“The citizens of Scottsdale, as well as Tempe and Mesa, should be very grateful to you,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell told Scottsdale officers at the May 28 press conference.
Another Scottsdale resident’s pet peeve, the scene of the arrest, was a short-term rental along Camelback and Miller roads where the bandits established headquarters.
“Items and property related to the crimes they are accused of were recovered during the search warrant service,” Bolin informed the press.
Nicolas Rojas Leon, 23; Joan Sebastian Orozco-Vargas, 26; Andres David Sanchez-Novoa, 38; Natalia Isabella Ortiz-Daza, 26; Martha Juliana Echiverri-Guzman, 28; Lady Johanna Gueito, 32; and Angie Paola Herandez-Manrique, 25, were the seven suspects booked into Maricopa County Jail.
The charges include burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, possession of burglary tools, and forged/altered car registration.
They all possessed Colombian passports.
Each is secured with a $150,000 cash-only bond.
Mitchell praised Scottsdale Police’s work before congratulating her team on their successful argument for bail conditions.
As first-time offenders, Mitchell stated that a matrix utilized by the court system “showed that each of these individuals should have been released on their recognizance or with no bond whatsoever.”
The Progress requested Mitchell to comment on the deep sadness felt by many in Scottsdale last year when “dinner-time bandits” Sebastian Jesus Soto and Grecia Castillo secured plea deals for two years of probation and no prison time beyond what they served until sentencing.
“That’s a frustration I have as well,” Mitchell remarked.
She expressed concern about the difficulties in obtaining anyone’s criminal history when they are not from this country and can still be granted probation even after a trial. Therefore, there is only so much we can do.
In this case, Mitchell is more optimistic: “We have two burglaries, so there may be some other charges as people have related to in other jurisdictions as well.”
A series of robberies on the West Coast, including in Washington State, Oregon, and Burbank, California, have led to the arrest of seven individuals.
Going to Scottsdale, with its drone-armed, technologically smart police department, proved a disastrous decision.
In a variation on last year’s strategy, where the dinner-time bandits targeted residences in the early evening, this year’s gang allegedly went for houses in the early afternoon, when occupants were at work.
When asked if the seven Colombians face deportation, Mitchell replied, “Obviously, that’s a federal issue, but my understanding is that there is an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) file stop on each of the individuals.”
Regarding prospective federal charges, Mitchell said, “We work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office quite frequently, so if they want to get involved, obviously they can.”
Bolin stated that he had no information on how long the seven had been in the United States.
‘Stakeout’
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On May 20, Scottsdale Police received information from Burbank Police that a tourist-gang group from Colombia that had reportedly committed burglaries in that city would be on its way to Arizona.
Burbank submitted car descriptions and license plates.
Bolin stated that Scottsdale Police discovered the automobiles “through investigative means.”
While he declined to disclose specifics, Scottsdale’s Real Time Crime Center monitors cameras on numerous main roadways and has a program that analyzes license plates of passing cars and sends alerts to suspicious vehicles.
After following the cars down to the Old Town short-term rental, Scottsdale investigators set up surveillance.
Detectives gathered intelligence and conducted surveillance on the seven suspects between May 20 and 22, according to Bolin.
According to Bolin, each member of the criminal squad appeared to have a defined duty, and the bandits had two vehicles.
On May 23, Scottsdale cops tracked the trio down to a residence in Tempe. One of the gang members strolled a French bulldog around the area “to blend in,” according to Bolin.
Another member of the gang pretended to be a food delivery guy and knocked on the door to ensure it was unoccupied.
Scottsdale cops witnessed members of the South American Theft Gang break into the Tempe home through a back window and flee after looting modest things.
An hour later, the seven alleged crime tourists broke into a Mesa home, employing the same methods and entering through the back.
Both homes were “ransacked,” with luxury shoes stolen in Tempe and a Rolex watch and pearl necklace taken in Mesa.
Surveillance efforts continued, Bolin explained, and the suspects were seen returning to their Scottsdale headquarters.
After obtaining a search warrant, Scottsdale cops and SWAT team members knocked on the short-term rental door, entered when it opened, and arrested the seven.
According to Bolin, none of them fought back.
Why didn’t the Scottsdale cops close in, arrest the seven, and release the dog days earlier?
“Part of the decision for not arresting them immediately when they landed in Arizona is because when Burbank PD notified us that they could be en route to Arizona and potentially to Scottsdale, we didn’t have any information at that time that there was probable cause to arrest them or hold them for a different agency,” Mr. Bolin said.
“They were obviously being investigated in those other jurisdictions for comparable activities,” Bolin added, “but (the Scottsdale Police Department) was not immediately aware of any probable cause that we could arrest them for when they landed in Arizona, basically.
“And so it was really important then that we made sure that we kept eyes on them the entire time, and then if we did detect criminal activity, we could act upon that we did so in an expedient amount of time.”
There was no tremendous urgency, he noted, because the group was reported to be nonviolent, similar to last year’s edition, which “turned and ran” when approached by householders.
“However,” Bolin emphasized, “our detectives were close enough that if they detected any kind of violent crime or any kind of threat to a community member, they would immediately step in and stop it.” We’re not going to sit back and let a violent crime happen.”
Despite seeing the Tempe and Mesa break-ins, Scottsdale cops maintained their calm approach.
When asked why authorities did not arrest the bandits at any of those two sites, Bolin replied that it paid to sit back and wait.
“What we know about these groups is that when a police car gets behind them or the police lights start to come on, they’re going to flee and potentially even cause a pursuit,” Mr. Bolin said.
The fact that the gang had two automobiles compounded the situation.
“We were concerned that if we started lighting up one vehicle, the other could escape…” Or they stop, jump out, and begin racing toward a neighborhood.”
Bolin cautioned against high-speed pursuits, citing the possibility of causing harm to others. They end up having a collision.
In this situation, “The advantage we had was that we knew where they were going to land.” We knew where they were going to stay and that we’d be able to gather them all at once.
Delineation
The press conference was held at the Scottsdale Police Training Center, which is located just over the border in Tempe.
After appreciating the “collaboration and communication between many law enforcement agencies” on this case, Scottsdale Assistant Police Chief Chris Watson saluted the city’s thousands of law-abiding international tourists who visit each year.
Watson stressed the importance of ensuring “that we delineate between that group and groups such as these seven Colombian nationals who came to the United States to commit crimes and who came to Arizona to victimize our community.”
Watson praised his officers and other law enforcement personnel for conveying a strong message to crime tourists who come to Arizona to commit these types of crimes.
Regarding the tourist thugs’ targets in Tempe and Mesa, “we were able to bring closure to a lot of these victims,” Bolin stated.
“We returned property for some of our victims here locally, as well as located property of victims in various other states—that included the French bulldog that they were walking around.”
The innocent dog was abducted from a California home and later became an unsuspecting accomplice to gang members who pretended to be strolling their dog while sizing up homes.
The bandits’ bulldog is returning home.
“The family will be reunited with their family pet coming up very soon,” Bolin told reporters. “