Jewelry robbers strike again

June 12, 2008, 1:05PM
Jewelry robbers strike again
Dealer stabbed as diamonds get stolen outside Houston service station

By MIKE GLENN
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

For the sixth time in as many weeks, armed robbers have attacked a visiting jewelry salesman, this time stabbing a vendor and taking 600 karats of diamonds when he stopped at a service station in southeast Houston, authorities said.

Police said five men — wielding knives and at least one pistol — jumped the dealer soon after he pulled into the gas station in the 9700 block of Telephone Road about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

"They took him down to the ground (and) stabbed him in his right arm while taking the keys to his car," said Houston police Sgt. Scott Atwood.

The robbers went back to the man's car and took his briefcase, which held the diamonds, said officials, who did not provide the monetary value of the haul.

The victim was treated at the hospital and released. Atwood said he has since returned home to California. No arrests have been made.


Gang suspected
Investigators believe Tuesday's hold-up was committed by members of a violent South American gang targeting jewelry dealers traveling in the Houston area. At least five similar holdups, netting the gang more than $3.5 million, have occurred since late April.

"The method in which they do these robberies — it's exactly the same," said Atwood, who is assigned to the Houston FBI's Major Theft Task Force.

Investigators got a break in their case Thursday after following three men spotted loitering around more than a dozen local jewelry stores and strip shopping centers.

The men, all from Colombia, were identified by FBI officials as Wilson Javier Paez Pena, 31; Luis Lopez Garcia, 34, and Edwin Mursea, believed to be either 36 or 38.

Investigators believe they may have been scouting sites for future holdups. Gang members have been known to wait outside potential targets for days until the right moment to strike, authorities said.

The three men were stopped for traffic violations. FBI agents said they were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials because their status was in question.

"They haven't been charged with the robberies," Atwood said.


Increasingly violent
Before Tuesday, the most recent attack occurred May 15 when three masked men made off with almost $1.5 million in diamonds after they pistol-whipped a traveling jewelry dealer at a Waffle House restaurant on Westheimer near Hayes.

"These guys are using knives and they have guns. (The robberies) seem to be becoming increasingly violent," Atwood said.

Investigators said they have yet to recover the diamonds, jewels and other precious stones taken in the recent rash of heists.

"Finding the jewelry, unless you're right there when the robbery occurs, is a very difficult task," Atwood said.

In many cases, the jewelry is stolen in one city and sold in a second. The illegal proceeds are often laundered in yet another city or even out of the country, FBI officials said.

The recent spree began April 28 when three or four men stole about $600,000 in loose stones after attacking a salesman from New York at a Holiday Inn parking lot in Montgomery County.

A day later, the thieves struck again, pepper-spraying a salesman as he left a Houston restaurant and getting away with $200,000 worth of jewelry.


$1 million heist
On May 1, gang members took about $250,000 in jewelry and gems only minutes after a salesman picked up his merchandise from a store in the 2400 block of Rice Boulevard.

About $1 million in jewels was taken May 14 when robbers held up another dealer who stopped for gas on Bissonnet near Kirby.

A $20,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the capture of the armed robbers targeting jewelry dealers. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

mike.glenn@chron.com