ST. GEORGE — Following a string of reported thefts in Washington County on Monday, a man and woman were arrested and suspected to be part of an international criminal group.
On Monday evening, officers responded to a big-box retailer on North 3050 East in St. George on a report of a stolen wallet.
According to charging documents filed with the court, the reporting party said her wallet had been taken out of her cart while she was shopping. She then received a notification from the bank advising that her credit card had been used to charge more than $1,750 in merchandise from a retailer in Washington City.
While patrol units were being dispatched to the store in Washington City, another call came into emergency dispatch, reporting a theft in progress at a third retailer.
The caller said a Hispanic couple was reportedly trying to steal a shopper’s purse by one of them distracting the customer while the other attempted to take the purse. When those efforts failed, the couple left the store, allegedly taking several items with them without paying.
In the meantime, officers in Washington City spotted the suspects’ vehicle and conducted a traffic stop near 500 West Telegraph Street. Police detained both the driver and the passenger, who were identified by their Puerto Rican ID cards as Manuel Salcedo-Baez and Elizabeth Medel-Farias.
St. George officers also responded to the scene on Telegraph Street.
Investigators located several gift cards purchased at the retailer in Washington City using the stolen credit card, along with receipts totaling $1,750 for the purchase, which matched the amount the caller reported in the bank notification.
Footage from the store in St. George showed the man removing a wallet from the cart while the customer was away from her cart.
Investigators also viewed footage from the second retailer that showed the pair “working together to steal a wallet from an elderly female, but they didn’t succeed.” That was when the couple left with hundreds of dollars in merchandise that was never paid for, the report states.
This type of distraction theft is a common ploy used by a group known by the FBI as South American Theft Groups, which led investigators to suspect the couple is associated with the criminal organization.
These crime groups “travel around the country committing retail thefts, distraction thefts, drop scams theft and vehicle burglaries,” the officer noted in the report.
Police say they have had many run-ins with these groups and have arrested several suspects involved in this type of criminal behavior.
While running a license plate check on the suspects’ vehicle, officers noticed a temporary tag on the car that, when pulled off, revealed a valid California license plate underneath.
The suspects were taken into custody and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility on third-degree felony counts of a pattern of criminal activity, acquiring a financial card and unlawful use of a financial card. They also face three counts of theft, a license plate charge and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, each a misdemeanor.
The suspects were found to be listed in an FBI database and were accurately identified as Rodrigo Baeza-Araya, 20, and Fernanda Munoz-Ferrada, 20, both of whom were in the area from Southern California. Each was later charged with one misdemeanor charge of providing false information to a peace officer through the use of false IDs.
The pair is being held in jail in Washington County on $10,000 bail each.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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