A Bensalem burglary investigation earlier this year helped lead to the arrests of three alleged members of a foreign theft ring operating on the U.S. East Coast, police said.
On Jan. 31, police responded to a home in the 2100 block of Lillian Drive, home where victims reported returning home to find the rear sliding glass door shattered and the home ransacked.
Three men have been charged in connection with a series of burglaries and attempts in Bucks, Montgomery and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Authorities believe they are part of a South American organized crime ring.
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Among the items missing were a 9mm handgun, $35,000 cash, jewelry and electronics worth another $15,000, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Home security footage showed a white Ford Fusion with Massachusetts license plate slowly pass the victim’s home just before the burglary, the affidavit said.
The same vehicle was also seen numerous times in the neighborhood and elsewhere in Bensalem the day before and after the Lillian Drive burglary, the affidavit said.
Later police learned there were three other attempted burglaries the same day between 6 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. The attempted burglaries were in the Neshaminy Valley section of the township.
The suspects in those attempts also tried entering homes through rear doors or windows but were scared off by residents or alarm systems, Bensalem police said.
During the burglary investigation police discovered numerous other law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey reported similar burglaries in January. Those incidents also involved the same white Ford Fusion.
Authorities in New Jersey described the Fusion as a “look out” car, which was found registered to Daniel Garcia-Arenas of Chelsea, Mass., the affidavit said.
Through the use of surveillance footage, witness statements, and automated license plate readers, police were able to confirm the vehicle was used in the burglaries along with developing suspects for the crimes.
The suspects were identified and charged in similar break-ins in Montgomery and Luzerne counties and West Windsor in New Jersey, as well as Warrington in Bucks County, police said.
Authorities believe the men are part of an organized burglary crew working out of the Queens section of New York City and they are members of a larger South American theft group, Bensalem police said in a press release.
The suspects were charged in March, but only one, Daniel Alejandro Garcia Arenas, 24, Toms River NJ was taken into custody in Bensalem, where he was incarcerated on felony conspiracy charges.
On April 1, Bucks County and the other jurisdictions withdrew the charges against Arenas and two other suspects: Yeison Estiven Gonzalez Rodriguez, 20, of Toms River, and Robinson Jean Paul Moncada Patarroyo, 19, of Queens. Charges were re-filed in Montgomery County, which will prosecute the cases.
Arenas was arraigned Wednesday on 21 felonies including multiple burglary and related charges and multiple misdemeanor loitering and prowling offenses.
He is incarcerated in Montgomery County Correctional Center in lieu of $10,000 bail and represented by the Public Defender’s Office.
Crime and Courts reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at Jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Men charges in alleged foreign burglary ring in Bucks County