This vehicle is believed to be the getaway vehicle from a May 2, 2024, burglary in the Winnebago County town of Algoma. (Image courtesy Winnebago County Sheriff's Office)
TOWN OF ALGOMA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Winnebago County deputies are asking the public to be on the lookout for people casing jewelry stores after cash and jewelry were taken from a home.
It happened on Wednesday, just before 2 p.m. at a residence in the town of Algoma.
Investigators say a silver or light grey new model Toyota Highlander with Louisiana license plates parked at the end of a cul de sac, just west of the victim’s residence.
Surveillance video shows a male driver, described as possibly Black or Hispanic, with very short hair or no hair, in his 30s, waiting inside the vehicle. The video shows the victims leave their house at 1:54 p.m. The residence was burglarized shortly after the victims left. Officials believe the Toyota Highlander driver was the getaway driver and lookout.
Detectives say there has been a criminal network working in the U.S. targeting Asian jewelry store owners by following them home and burglarizing the homes later of cash, jewelry and designer purses. Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office has gathered intelligence that this is stemming back to at least 2020, in multiple incidents documented in a bulletin released by the Douglas County Sheriff in Omaha, Nebraska, where they have had numerous burglaries where at least 2-3 Hispanic males and one female at six different incidents in their jurisdiction, burglarizing homes in the same manner and targeting the same items. They identified their suspects as operating out of Houston, Texas and are originally from Honduras.
The suspects minimize cellphone use, also using Wi-Fi-disabling equipment so Wi-Fi-based cameras do not detect them on video. Two Wi-Fi-based Ring doorbell cameras were disabled during the act of the burglary and no video was captured whatsoever. The suspects have been identified as staying at Hampton Inns.
Officials say the state of Massachusetts also broke up a ring practicing in the same exact manner, targeting Asian jewelry store owners’ homes in 2018 and indicted multiple individuals on 95 counts of home invasion burglaries.
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