Four Migrants Arrested for $12,400 Department Store Theft

By Matis Glenn

Four migrants from South America who were bussed into New York City from Texas were arrested Monday for allegedly stealing over $12,400 in merchandise from a department store, according to Fox News.

The group, two of whom were living in the Westin hotel in Manhattan free of charge under the city’s program to assist migrants arriving from other states, were pulled over by Nassau County police after violating several traffic laws, and for having fake license plates.

Upon investigation of the 2006 BMW that they were driving, police found the foursome in possession of goods stolen from the Macy’s department store in Roosevelt Field Mall, in Garden City, Long Island. The theft was reported to police on January 9.

The suspects, Jose Garcia Escobar, 30, Wrallan Cabezas Meza, 19, and brothers Rafael Rojas, 27 and Miguel Angel Rojas, 21, were all arrested. All four were charged with Grand Larceny, but Escobar and the older Rojas were released without bail. Both Rojas brothers currently live in the Westin hotel.

The stolen items were returned to the department store.

According to police, the group arrived in New York City between July and September of last year.

The arrest comes a day after New York City Mayor Eric Adams requested more federal money to deal with the migrants in the city, which he says has cost the Big Apple millions and is straining the already stretched shelter system. Adams has rented out upper class hotels and created tent cities to house the tens of thousands of migrants who arrived in 2022. His latest plan was unveiled Monday, when he announced that the city would convert a Brooklyn cruise ship terminal into temporary housing.

Newsweek reported that a different group of four South American suspects were arrested In connection with a string of burglaries in Nassau County; police say that there is possibly a connection between the two groups, which might be part of an organized crime ring operating in Chile, Colombia and Venezuela.

Ninety percent of all recent Nassau burglaries are connected to organized crime groups based in South America, according to Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, who spoke at a news conference on Monday.

“These are ongoing, organized crime groups that have been sent up here for the purpose to commit crimes here,” Ryder said, “knowing if you’re caught, and you get out and sent back to where you came from, we’ll send a new crew.”