Thread: Fla:Police Seek More Arrests in 2008 Diamond Heist, Shootout

Boca Raton seeks more arrests in 2008 diamond heist, shootout

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By CHRISTINA DeNARDO
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 30, 2009

BOCA RATON — Boca Raton Police have identified additional suspects wanted in connection to a armed robbery of diamond couriers that resulted in the fatal shooting of another robber in 2007.

Police have identified one of the robbers as Colombian national Edwin Andres Zaragoza, but authorities said that name could be an alias. Zaragoza has close to two dozen aliases and has been arrested by multiple agencies across the country. Boca Raton Police have obtain warrants on Zaragoza for homicide and robbery with a weapon.

The charges against Zaragoza were filed under the unusual legal concept of felony murder, in which one criminal can be charged if an accomplice is killed by someone else, even the victim.

In May 2007, Miami-area couriers Leon Rozio, 64, and Timoteo Humberto Garcia had gone to St. Moritz Jewelers, 21310 St. Andrews Blvd., near the Town Center mall. Rozio had been waiting outside the car when a vehicle boxed him in. He saw two or three men smash out the windows of a car and take a bag of jewelry, worth about $100,000, from a floorboard, then leap into a sport utility vehicle.

Rozio said he drew his 9mm Ruger and tried to shoot out a tire, and the SUV backed toward him. Fearing for his life, he fired several shots at the driver, he told police.

The remaining robbers fled the SUV and leaped into a white Chrysler Town & Country minivan. The minivan, later located unoccupied at the mall, had multiple bullet holes in it and contained property left by the suspects.

The driver of the car was found dead. He had a fraudulent I.D. but police later were able to identify him as Wilmar Andres Sierra-Perez, another Colombian national. Sierra-Perez was a convicted felon who had been deported from the United States.

The robbery at the St. Moritz Jewelers was not an isolated incident but part of a organized international diamond theft ring. Unravelling the case has proven to be especially complicated because all the suspects involved had fraudulent documents and multiple aliases. Several of the suspects had been previously deported from the United States for felony convictions and subsequently re-entered the country illegally.

In January, police arrested one of the alleged robbers, Oscar Gonzalez-Londono, 29, and charged him charged with robbery and second-degree murder in connection with Sierra-Perez's death. Gonzalez-Londono was picked up by authorities in Texas for entering the country illegally.

When police spoke with Gonzalez-Londono, he implicated himself as the driver of a third car, which was used to pick up the other suspects after they left the Chrysler minivan at the Town Center Mall. Gonzalez-Londono also named Zaragoza as the driver of the minivan and said they had been roommates in Miami.

Police also believe that another man arrested with Gonzalez-London, Jose Curo, also knew about the robbery and who was involved in it. Police have identified Gonzalez-Londono's brother, Rodolfo Vargas-Londono, as another suspect in the robbery. Detectives believe Vargas-Londono was a passenger in the Saturn Vue, and possibly removed the jewelry case from Rozio's vehicle. Houston police have sought warrants against Vargas-Londono but police do not know where he is.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of either of these men, they are asked to call their local law enforcement agency immediately. If anyone has information about this crime, they are asked to call Detective Juan Carlos Pijuan at (561) 338-1387 or Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers at (800)483-TIPS.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/ ... monds.html

Are these some of those folks that are only coming here to make things better for their family?

Oh they need amnesty, and they probably went wild after eating too many Twinkies.