11 teens held in alleged crime ring
Eleven teenagers and one 21-year-old had the idea this summer to steal from cars and houses in the Fairfield area and resell the stolen goods, including TVs and guns, for cash.
Their crimes became increasingly violent and included aggravated assault and a drive-by shooting until they were arrested this weekend as an organized crime ring, Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
The 12 members of the alleged teen organized crime ring were tied to at least 74 burglaries to cars, 11 burglaries to homes, two aggravated robberies, one aggravated assault and one auto theft.
The arrests included one juvenile, six 18-year-olds, four 19-year-olds and the 21-year-old. The charges included engaging in organized crime, theft of firearms, burglary of a habitation, burglary of a motor vehicle, failure to stop and give information, aggravated assault, possession of a controlled substance and tampering with evidence.
Not gang-related
The 11 adult suspects whose names and charges have been released are held on bail up to $20,000 on the charge of engaging in organized crime. Some suspects are held without bail. The eight male and three female suspects are: Raul Behena, Victor Behena, Jasmine Dubec, Anthony Burrus, Brian Hernandez, Darian Weinberg, Elizabeth Mendez, Isaiah Johns, Miguel Mujica, Sami Chabane and Michael Hughes.
One suspect, 18-yearold Daniel Lopez, remains at large, and investigators expect to find more individuals associated with the group. The crimes took place near where some, but not all, of the suspects live.
The group resold the items they stole, online and in parking lots. They didn’t look for anything in particular in the burglaries, many of which were of unlocked cars or homes.
Investigators are not certain how those involved knew each other, but many are friends and some are related. Some of the young suspects are enrolled in school, although Herman would not specify where. Herman said investigators did not think the ring was gang-related and that the group did not seem to have a hierarchy.
Investigators with precincts 4 and 5 of the Harris County Constable read thousands of pages of text messages and sent out several search warrants over a four-month investigation that led to the arrests. One suspect who was arrested after fleeing the scene of an accident told officers about the ring, prompting the investigation.
‘Crime will diminish’
Herman said his office will run a data analysis of these and other area crimes and expects that burglaries will decrease now that this group has been broken up.
“When you take this many people off the street, your crime will diminish in that area,” Herman said.