Authorities: 5 in gang held in car thefts
WESTPALMBEACH— Five West Palm Beach-area gang members suspected in car thefts across Palm Beach County were arrested Wednesday on a slew of burglary and weapons-related charges.
Palm Beach County sheriff ’s authorities tracked “Westgate Blood” gang members Isaias Carrillo, 20; Mario Ciggs, 18; Daniel Emilio Evangelista, 18; Hubert Payne, 28; and Steven Turner, 21, to a home off Military Trail south of Southern Boulevard early on June 22.
Authorities followed them and the stolen car they were driving from that home and back during an hourlong surveillance operation.
Sheriff ’s records detail the late night/early morning investigation that started when authorities spotted three stolen cars parked in a suburban West Palm housing complex. One was taken from a Tequesta home, and two had fled from Boca Raton police on multiple occasions.
They watched some of the men drive off in the stolen 2013 Kia Sportage, stop at a gas station on Haverhill Road and pick up Turner. They drove to Lakeside Mobile Home Park in the Westgate neighborhood, made several stops, then headed west on Okeechobee Boulevard.
The men stopped in neighborhoods in The Acreage and Wellington and tried door handles of cars parked outside.
Agents closed in on the suspects, and they drove off toward the West Palm Beacharea home authorities had first spotted them at. They ran inside the home of a woman Payne knew, records state.
They eventually surrendered to authorities.
Investigators linked the men to stolen guns, jewelry, checkbooks, cameras and a rosary taken during a rash of car thefts over several weeks from Jupiter to Boca Raton.
Three of the men confessed to their involvement in at least some of the attempted thefts. Two refused to speak to authorities without an attorney.
An arrest report lists Evangelista’s occupation as “car thief/burglar.” He has been found guilty on burglary charges multiple times in the last year, records show.
Payne also has prior burglary convictions. He was released from state prison in 2016 after serving time for burglary and for soliciting a child for sex online.
As of Friday morning, all five men remained in the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of bond.