Daytona Beach, FL – 3 Miami men arrested in Daytona Beach last month are linked to a criminal ring that authorities say went around Florida stealing over $500,000 in copper wire.
49-year-old Joan B. Cruz, 36-year-old Giovany R. Regidor and 33-year-old Carlos H. Aragon are among the 12 arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to a press release sent on Tuesday by FDLE.
FDLE Miami Special Agent in Charge Troy Walker says it all started in October 2014 when Florida Power and Light filed numerous reports of theft and destruction of underground electric and fiber optic cables.
“These thefts posed a substantial threat to the community by making critical electric and communications infrastructure vulnerable to failure,” Walker added. “At least one theft [damaged] adjacent fiber optic cables carrying 911 communications.”
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle says the suspects sold the copper they stole to metal recycling facilities, primarily in the South Florida area.
“These thieves aimed to put dollars in their pockets by severing those lines of electrical power that keep the pulse of our community beating,” Rundle noted. “This joint partnership between my prosecutors, FDLE and FPL would not let that happen.”
Most of the thefts took place in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, but at least one of them happened near Daytona International Speedway on October 15th, according to a Daytona Beach Police Department report.
In that incident, officers say they saw Aragon, Cruz and Regidor using a bucket truck to block 2 streets near DIS so that they could have access to manholes that led to underground utility service stations.
All 3 men refused to speak when questioned by police afterward, per the report.
DBPD detectives say they were tipped to Aragon, Cruz and Regidor after FPL informed them that over 4,300 feet of copper cable wire had been stolen in the Daytona Beach area recently. That wire is valued at over $100,000, per the report.
All 3 men are charged with violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act – better known as RICO – as well as theft of copper wire, grand theft and dealing in stolen property.
Cruz is also charged with money laundering while Aragon and Regidor are also charged with organized scheme to defraud, burglary of an unoccupied structure and possession of burglary tools.
The other 9 suspects are all from the South Florida area, per FDLE.
All mugshots below are courtesy of Volusia County Jail.
Joan B. Cruz
Giovany R. Regidor
Carlos H. Aragon
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