Posts Tagged ‘theft’

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FBI Placed GPS Tracker on Bank Robber’s Car

By Dawn in Crime, gps tracker, Investigations, MSI Detective Services, murder, Police Records, robbery, Stolen Property, Theft Investigations at December 20th, 2011 | No comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a story where miscommunication, and lack of willingness to share crucial information, resulted in the death of a police officer. The controversy surrounding this incident is primarily directed at the FBI.

FBI agents knew of a bank robbery before it occurred, but they were keeping the details to themselves. The FBI contacted Muskegon County (Michigan) dispatchers to warn them about the possibility of a bank robbery. FBI Resident Agent in Charge, John King, had called the Muskegon Dispatch Center at roughly 10:20 a.m. to alert them to a bank robbery that was about to occur – 16 minutes later - ChoiceOne Bank was robbed.

“Hey, this is John King with the FBI in Grand Rapids,” dispatch tapes recorded. “We are right now tracking a couple individuals up in the Muskegon County area around Ravenna. And so, if there happens to be a bank robbery come out, can you make sure we end up getting a phone call?” The FBI had been tracking the two bank robbers with a GPS tracking device placed on the suspect’s car and on a phone.

Although the FBI had placed a GPS tracker on the suspect’s vehicle, they did not provide a vehicle description when asked by a Muskegon dispatcher.

Dispatch tapes also show that one of the FBI agents appeared to know beforehand that suspects Derryl LaFave and Kristopher Cheyne were going to be in a black Chevrolet Blazer that they used as their first getaway car. The Blazer had been stolen the day before the robbery. The suspects abandoned the Blazer, which had the GPS tracker, not far from the bank before escaping in a blue Oldsmobile Bravada.

“We had our suspects in there before the bank robbery, so I’m sure that’s it,” FBI Task Force member Pat Harig told a dispatcher. At the time, he was discussing the Blazer. Harig told dispatchers the FBI had been tracking the suspects into Ravenna through GPS, and they wanted to keep that a secret. “Without putting this on the air, we have GPS on the vehicle and on a phone,” Harig told a dispatcher. “We do not need that on the air.” Read the full article »

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Man Passed Driver’s Test While “Catatonic” – Admits to Workers’ Comp Fraud

By Dawn in Crime, Investigations, MSI Detective Services, Private Investigator, scam, Surveillance Services, Theft Investigations at December 7th, 2011 | No comments

Martin Lobatos must be a really good driver, because he passed his driver’s test with an above-average score when he was supposedly on the verge of catatonia.

Lobatos and his wife, Belen Luna Lobatos, have both entered guilty pleas, after being indicted by a grand jury, in what appears to have been over a year long workers’ compensation scam. The couple live in Aurora, Denver. They are accused of stealing $120,000 worth of workers’ compensation funds from Pinnacol Assurance. Eventually, a private investigator was hired and Lobatos was placed under surveillance. However, before this happened, Martin Lobatos led doctors and the insurance company down a road of twists and turns.

Martin was working as a roofer. On September 29, 2008, he fell six to ten feet from a ladder, face first, causing him to briefly lose consciousness — although that’s in dispute. He was taken to Vail Valley Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a wrist fracture, two broken ribs and a closed head injury that caused a small abrasion and some swelling. A CT scan on his head and neck came back negative, and he was discharged from the medical center the same day he was admitted.

Lobatos filed a workers’ comp claim on September 30. After returning to work full-time on October 21, he began complaining of headaches, dizziness, vertigo, and blurred vision. An MRI on October 28 didn’t show any reason for these symptoms, but he claimed that they persisted. A doctor who examined him in April 2009 couldn’t find any medical reason for his continuing issues. This doctor determined that Lobatos had reached maximum medical improvement (MMI) and assigning him what the indictment describes as a “zero-percent impairment rating.”

Lobatos was terminated from his job that same month (April) and subsequent to him declining to accept a $20,000 settlement from Pinnacol Assurance in September 2009, Lobatos started to complain of new symptoms, including dizziness, memory loss, difficulty recognizing his own children, inability to use stairs without help, pain caused by eating, chewing, bright lights, and the weather. Lobatos was quite convincing and a second physician rejected his predecessor’s findings, determining that the MMI ruling was premature. Read the full article »

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Amado Cardenas Allegedly Burglarized the Wrong Apartment

By Dawn in Burlary, Crime, Police Records, Theft Investigations at December 2nd, 2011 | No comments

According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, a woman returned to her Stock Island, Florida apartment around 7 a.m. Wednesday and found a strange man sleeping on her living-room floor. The man is Amado Cardenas, age 45. It appears he not only passed out, but he was confused and attempted to burglarize the wrong apartment.

Aside from the fact that the woman found a stranger sleeping in her home, she also had to phone the police because Cardenas wouldn’t wake up.

Cardenas was arrested, and police say the woman’s apartment was “disturbed.”

“Cardenas had helped himself to alcoholic beverages, gone through her drawers, and taken cash and medications from her,” MCSO Deputy Becky Herrin says. “He had also tried to take her flat-screen television off of the wall.”

After allegedly rummaging through the woman’s stuff and pocketing some of it before having some drinks and calling it a night on the floor, police asked Cardenas what exactly he was doing.

According to the cops, Cardenas said he thought he was at his ex-girlfriend’s place.

It may sound like a crazy excuse, but the sheriff’s office says his ex-girlfriend actually lives next door to the woman.

Either way, Cardenas was booked into jail on burglary and theft charges.

Read story@ browardpalmbeach>

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Thief Steals from Couple Rehearsing “I Do’s”

By Dawn in Crime, MSI Detective Services, robbery, Stolen Property, Theft Investigations at December 1st, 2011 | No comments

I have heard of people stealing from envelope gift boxes at weddings and from people’s cars in cemeteries, but this is a new one.

An unidentified and uninvited woman was caught on a security camera entering a church in Des Moines, Washington as a couple was rehearsing for their wedding.

The camera caught the woman reaching into the “bride to be’s” purse. She stole family heirlooms and the groom’s wedding ring.

The bride, Mrs. Parker, spoke with MSNBC. The bride seemed to take the incident in stride and said the couple hopes the thief gets the help she needs.

I hope the security camera assists in catching this thief so she can get the help she needs and the Parkers can reclaim their stolen items.

View the video@ msnbc

 

 

 

 

 

 

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