Four arrested in series of robberies

Keith Paul

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2001 | 10:40 a.m.

Police have arrested four men suspected in a series of robberies and home invasions targeting undocumented Hispanic immigrants.

Metro Police officers say a robbery crew has been plaguing one area of the city for the past month.

Juan Castaneda, 29, and Jacobo Garcia, 28, who goes by several aliases, were arrested in North Las Vegas. Ramon Garcia, 29, and Juan Cota, 28 were arrested at a downtown Las Vegas apartment, Lt. John Alamshaw, of Metro's robbery unit said.

Police said five men stormed into a home in the area of Charleston Boulevard and Mohawk Street about 1 p.m. Friday and forced the residents to open a safe at gunpoint.

The men tied up the victims and fled with a large amount of cash and jewelry, Alamshaw said.

Police said a robbery ring is targeting Hispanics and businesses that hire Hispanics, suspecting that those firms would pay undocumented workers in cash.

The ring is believed to have committed as many as 10 armed robberies and home invasions since July 5, Alamshaw said.

"They would identify the targets and then probably did some surveillance and picked the days when there would be cash for the payday," Alamshaw said.

Detectives suspect there are other victims of robberies who have not reported the crimes to the police because they are fearful they would get into immigration trouble, police said.

The robbers worked alone, in pairs or as a group committing the crimes, police said.

Police are looking for another suspect, described as a white female, about 25 to 32 years old, 5 foot 7, weighing about 165 pounds with curly shoulder length blonde hair with dark roots. She goes by the nickname of K.C. She drives a white Camero with gold tire rims, police said.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts or identity is asked to call Metro's robbery unit at 229-3591 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Police also are asking anyone who was a victim of a robbery but has not come forward because they are in the country illegally to call Metro. The victims will not be detained or arrested because of their immigration status, police said.