Police arrested an eight-man crime ring after they were caught burglarizing a warehouse in Sweetwater.
The men, who are all Cuban nationals, were arrested between June 30 and July 6, Sweetwater Police said.
The first arrest occurred on June 30 when six of the men, wearing ski masks, baseball caps and gloves, allegedly burglarized a company located on 2051 NW 112th Avenue, taking computers and parts worth $80,000.
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According to a surveillance video, the men kept watch on General Procurement, a California-based company, for two hours before using a circular saw to break into the back of a white truck. Police said they then manipulated the steering column to start the truck. The suspects fled in three cars and the stolen truck, a report said.
A warehouse manager saw the burglary remotely on surveillance cameras and called police.
Police saw 30-year-old Orestes Chacon driving a white company box truck by the entrance of Dolphin Mall on NW 111th Avenue and NW 17th Street and tried to pull him over.
Chacon crashed the truck into a tree and tried to flee but was caught by police.
Leandro Chaco, 34, Rigoberto Fernandez Donato, 45, Yaser Lopez, 29, Reinel Valdivia, 40, Alois Cea-Gonzalez, 37, Juan Carlos Arencibia, 45, and Eliezer Roche Mena, 49, were subsequently arrested and each charged with one count of unoccupied burglary and grand theft auto.
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Alois Cea-Gonzalez was also charged with battery on law enforcement officer and resisting with violence. He is on federal probation for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Cea-Gonzalez violently attacked a detective while he was being interrogated, police said. He allegedly lunged over the table, striking the detective with a closed fist several times.
Donato was out on bond for grand theft auto when he was arrested. He carries a lengthy criminal record, police said.
The investigation remains ongoing.
