Pallet companies in Fontana, California are sleeping a bit easier after a ring of pallet thieves were apprehended by local law enforcement. Recyclers and pallet manufacturers in the region have suffered through numerous thefts and arson attacks over the last two years. The safety concerns have become so bad that pallet companies have joined together to form an organization designed to catch the culprits and thwart future attempts. The group is called the North American Pallet Association.
The most recent incident occurred late in the night on October 1st after armed thieves attacked an employee at the pallet facility. Authorities are not certain if the suspects were involved with previous pallet theft incidents. But there are some notable similarities. For example, the assailants used weapons and force to take truckloads of pallets that were loaded and ready to go.
Edgar Montes, one of the founders of the North American Pallet Association, said, “Ever since we started tracking arsons and thefts of trucks and trailers, we have been successful in sharing this information across our network and have been able to recover some assets in at least 10 incidents.”
Montes added that the thieves struck late at night and worked to quickly get rid of the evidence as quickly as possible.
In this case though the suspects didn’t work fast enough. According to a press statement by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, local authorities responded to a 9-1-1 call about a robbery and assault at a Fontana pallet yard. The police report stated, “When deputies arrived, they located a victim with a head wound sitting in the front of the driveway. The victim told deputies he had been pistol whipped and tied up by four subjects while he was sleeping in his bed. The victim gave deputies detailed suspect descriptions that were captured on video surveillance.”
The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office went on to report, “During the course of the investigation, information was obtained involving a pallet yard in the County of Riverside with suspicious subjects unloading pallets from two tractor-trailers in the darkness. Deputies drove to the County of Riverside and located five subjects at the Riverside location attempting to flee. After a thorough search of the area, they were all captured and taken into custody without further incident.”
Authorities arrested Dolores Garcia, age 44, a resident of Bloomington, Nicolas Mora, age 37, a resident of Fontana, Anthony Lopez, age 24, a resident of Fontana, Jesse Jimenez, age 51, a resident of Fontana, and Carlos Ocampo, age 37, a resident of Fontana. The incident was covered by local newspapers as well as Channel 4 NBC News Los Angeles.
At the scene, 1,400 stolen pallets, and one tractor-trailer was recovered. The victim was taken to a local hospital and is expected to recover. Anyone with information regarding this investigation is encouraged to call the Fontana Sheriff’s station at 909-356-6767. Please refer to Case No. 031802721.
The police were able to identify the culprits using video. One of the suspects is connected to a pallet company in the Riverside area.
Montes declared, “We are living in a day and time that you can’t just lock your gate and leave the keys in your tractors at night and assume that everything will be okay.” He explained that many pallet companies are taking steps to improve security including video cameras, motion sensors, 24-hour guards, etc.
You can see the video footage of the incident online at https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Assault-Robbery-at-Fontana-Truck-Yard_Los-Angeles-494982401.html.
