RICO charges men accused of burglarizing 492 cars in metro Atlanta

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA. – Five men, currently behind bars and accused of burglarizing hundreds of cars, now face racketeering charges. Gwinnett County police say they are part of an organized network that targeted 492 vehicles around the Atlanta metro area. Two other men are still on the run.

Prosecutors typically use racketeering, also known as RICO laws, to target gangsters.

Gwinnett County Police tell FOX 5 a total of seven men were part of a ring operating out of East Point that went on a crime spree from 2022 through the end of the year last.

“This was an organized group of individuals who targeted these cars,” said Sgt. Collin Flynn of the Gwinnett County Police Department. “They will target shopping malls, they will go to residential areas, anywhere they think they can get in and out quickly and burglarize as many cars as possible.”

“They had a safe house in East Point, where they brought back a lot of the stolen goods,” Flynn said. Investigators claim to have found a cache of weapons in this hideout. “They located stolen weapons, IDs linked to the victims and other stolen items inside the car.”

Randy Martinez, Kylijah Yates, Myles David Cameron, Emmanuel Carvarria-Ornelas and Javaris Gamble were in custody Thursday evening. Giovanni Louis Bell and Kejuan Miliam remained at large. “We believe these people are extremely dangerous,” Flynn said.

Investigators say last July in Norcross, a suspect opened fire on a homeowner who tried to confront them. “If they’re willing to shoot someone just because they’re caught breaking into a car, they’re obviously willing to hurt or kill someone,” Flynn said.

Kenya Roblero-Garcia was one of the victims. She is very happy to learn that the suspects are now facing RICO charges. “They’re doing the right thing. They’re actually charging them for the right things,” Roblero-Garcia said. “That gives me some hope. They’ve already caught most of them, so I hope they get the other two.”

Call police or Crime Stoppers Atlanta if you have any information on where they may be.