According to federal investigators, two members of a “South American theft group” were caught in mid-August after allegedly snatching a $1 million Patek Philippe watch from a man at gunpoint as he was dining with his wife and daughters at the Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles.
However, the diamond-studded watch traveled fast throughout the United States, all the way to Miami. Miami police have detained three more suspects in connection with the armed robbery of a man at the Beverly Hills hotel, claiming they were attempting to fence the stolen watch in the Magic City.
According to an arrest complaint, police received a tip last week that the watch stolen off the man’s wrist during the Aug. 7 heist was “going to be sold in Miami.”
Detectives were led to the Miami apartment of Kerwin Campos, a 20-year-old Venezuelan with a prior criminal history who was “trying to sell the watch,” according to an arrest document. A rifle reported stolen in St. Lucie County was also discovered in Campos’ residence, authorities said.
Two additional suspects were caught last week, including Yeison Jose Bolivar, 25, who was linked not just to the Beverly Hills crime but also to similar luxury watch thefts in Miami, New Jersey, and New York, according to police. Bolivar was charged with stealing a $50,000 Patek Philippe watch from a Miami man on April 13, when he was with his toddler in the 3500 block of Biscayne Boulevard.
Yiever A. Capote-Diaz, 26, a Venezuelan, was also captured last week following a foot pursuit with Miami detectives. Capote-Diaz, who police claim had an illegal firearm, was charged with resisting a police officer with violence and openly carrying a weapon.
The investigations were conducted by Miami police in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. One senior law enforcement official said it’s unclear whether the accused will be charged in state or federal court.
“We’re looking at how to proceed with this case,” the federal agent said, adding that the guys seized in Miami and Los Angeles are suspected of belonging to the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, which has earned a nasty reputation in several major American cities.
‘The stolen watch capital in the globe.’
South Florida private investigator David Bolton, who is aware with the Patek Philippe heist investigation, stated that it is not uncommon for such expensive watches to be stolen and wind up in Miami. “Miami is the stolen watch capital of the world,” Bolton claimed. “All of the stolen watches are coming to Miami.”
According to federal authorities, the following is the backstory behind the Patek Philippe robbery:
According to a federal complaint affidavit, the robbery took place in the afternoon of August 7 when two males approached a man dining with his wife and twin girls at a Beverly Wilshire restaurant and held him up at gunpoint. While one leveled a revolver at the victim, the other removed the watch from his wrist.
“The theft occurred within seconds,” according to the affidavit. “Fearing for his family’s lives, [the victim] let [the suspect] take the watch without a struggle.”
The two then ran to a parked automobile on South Rodeo Drive.
Three days after the crime, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica police officers searched an Airbnb where the two suspects were thought to be staying. During the search, they discovered a handgun registered to Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer who killed four people while from the authorities. He killed during a standoff in 2013.
Police in Riverside County, California, arrested the two.
The United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles accused Jamer Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 21, of Colombia, with one count of interfering with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and one count of having a handgun in furtherance of a violent felony.
Jesus Eduardo Padron Rojas, 19, of Venezuela, faces one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery.
According to the complaint, the suspects were driving a Chevrolet Equinox associated with a previous heist in Beverly Hills on August 5, when members of the same South American theft organization pulled up a victim at gunpoint and took a $30,000 Rolex.