Cellphone Crooks Caught
Ventura County – A trio of armed robbery suspects were apprehended in the unincorporated area of eastern Ventura County on April 24th, following a month-long investigation into multiple commercial burglaries throughout the area.
Lupita’s Wireless is located near here
On March 29th, 2013, a 911 Emergency call reporting an armed robbery that had just taken place at Lupita’s Wireless, a retail store specializing in the sale and programming of cell phone products, brought responders from Ventura County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Division as well as the Sheriff’s Gang Unit. According to VCSD spokesman Detective Gabriel Gonzales’ report to the media, employees at Lupita’s Wireless indicated that “the suspects in the robbery brandished a handgun” in furtherance of their theft of multiple high-value cell phones. The suspects were described by the robbery victims as a “white female and two Hispanic males”.
The ensuing weeks of investigation by the VCSD Gang Unit led detectives to Krista Munoz,45, Ruben Desoto, 27, and Eric Mahoney, 26 as the principal suspects in the Lupita’s Wireless robbery, as well as in “several commercial burglaries in which power tools and other items were stolen,” according to Gonzales’ report.
On April 24th, surveillance of an Oxnard residence was conducted, and as Munoz and Desoto were leaving the premises, they were contacted by Deputies who took them into custody at the scene. Shortly thereafter, a warrant search of the residence was conducted which led to the recovery of property stolen over the prior month. Munoz and Desoto were booked into Ventura County Jail on charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime, while Mahoney was contacted in Santa Barbara County Jail where he was in custody on other unrelated charges and served with a warrant for his arrest by Ventura County Sheriffs.
Read more:
Nixle: Suspects Arrested in Connection With Recent Wireless Store Robbery
VCStar: Three Suspects Identified in Saticoy Robbery
Fillmore Gazette: Recent Arrests of Burglary and Theft Suspects
