LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Joe Baeza,

          In a case that would have made Barabbas shake his head with disbelief, two people were arrested by Laredo PD Detectives on Monday, November 1, 2010, for stealing a woman’s wallet from her purse, while in church, as the victim got up to go to the altar during church service.  The incident happened on Saturday October 20, 2010 when the victim attended church services at a local parish in the city’s North East side.  The victim stated that she got up and walked to the alter and left her purse behind resting on top of the pew she was sitting on.  According to the victim she had closed her purse and left her glasses on top of the purse before getting up.  When she quickly returned to the pew she noticed that her purse was open and her glasses were on the floor.  She looked inside and noticed her wallet was missing.  Thinking she possibly left the wallet back at home she did not make much of it and closed her purse back up. 

          Once the victim got home and was unable to locate her wallet, she logged onto her bank account and noticed that there were several large purchases charged on her debit card account.  One charge was $30 made at a local Fried Chicken Eatery; another was for a $200 purchase at a local auto parts store.  She asked her spouse about the charges and he had no knowledge of the purchases.  The victim proceeds to call her bank to investigate further and the bank advised her that there were several large charges that were made to her account.  In fact her card that very moment was in the middle of attempted purchase at a large chain superstore.  The bank immediately stopped the purchase authorization.  The woman got into her car and drove to the store where purchase was attempted.  She met with the manager who walked her over to the counter where the attempted purchase was made and asked the employees if they noticed anything suspicious.  The employees stated that they did remember the couple especially since they became upset when the bank debit card they were using was declined.  The employees gave a detailed description to the victim which sparked her recollection.  The victim stated to police that she remembers the description given to her by the store employees matching a very distinct couple who were sitting in front of her at church.  The description of the suspects was hard to forget since the suspect had several tattoos.  The victim stated that she could not help but notice the couple since they were both sitting directly in front of her during the church service.  She recalled that when she noticed her purse was opened and the wallet was missing she began to look around and noticed that the couple sitting in front of her began getting nervous.  The couple did not stay throughout the service, in fact they left hurriedly after the male got up to go up to the altar.  The female suspect walked straight out of the church and the man soon followed after.  The victim was able to recognize the two suspects out of a photo lineup.  After positively identifying the suspects the detective went to secure warrants of arrest. 

          Just when this case could not get any stranger; when the detective arrived at the Justice of the Peace office to get arrest warrants signed, he coincidently runs into the male suspect wanted in this case in that very same J.P.’s office.  The suspect, identified as Raul Aguilar Jr., was at the J.P.’s office that day for a judicial hearing for an arrest the suspect had on October 30, 2010 for shoplifting a pair of tennis shoes from a store at the mall. Almost as convenient was the presence of the female suspect also wanted in the case.  Both suspects were served with arrest warrants charging them with 5 counts each of Credit Card Abuse State Jail Felony on a combined $100,000 bond per suspect set by J.P. Oscar Liendo.  Raul Aguilar Jr. has a long history of criminality and has been arrested 15 times before (currently on probation).  The charges range from theft, assault, and criminal trespass.