EVERETT - Over the past three months, 17 victims in the region withdrew large sums of cash from banks. Of those, 12 were from Everett. Most of the victims left the cash in their vehicles while running errands and returned to find the money gone. It is believed that two suspects followed the victims from the banks, broke into the vehicles and stole the money. In most cases, the vehicles were not occupied; however, two female victims were contacted and told they had flat tires. It was later determined that the tires had been intentionally slashed. In other cases, money was stolen from a male as he helped push a vehicle blocking the roadway while another man was robbed at gunpoint.
Reported losses are over $91,000. Locally, 11 of the victims withdrew money from a Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU) branch office (11127 Evergreen Way) and one victim from a Wells Fargo bank (7502 Evergreen Way).
On July 17th, the Everett Police Department and the Snohomish Regional Drug & Gang Task Force conducted a surveillance operation to locate, identify and arrest the suspects. The suspects were apprehended after stealing money from an undercover vehicle and were booked into the Snohomish County Jail under the names of Giovanny Ramirez-Pedraza, a 28 year-old male from Renton, and Javier Rojas-Diaz, a 45 year-old male from Kent. Both males have been released pending the criminal court process. It is believed the suspects primarily use vans and SUV's to facilitate their crimes and additional suspects may be involved.
Property Crimes detectives reminder ATM users to be alert of their surroundings and never leave valuables or cash inside a vehicle.
Anyone with information about these incidents or has been a victim of a similar crime is asked to call the Everett Police Department TIP LINE at (425) 257-8450 or Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 1-800-222-TIPS.