Columbia Co. Sheriff’s Office busts organized crime ring from Texas

Our investigation revealed that several Hispanic males from Texas entered Lewiston Express to cash fraudulent checks. After numerous checks from WW Siding, LLC were cashed, the manager of the business became suspicious and called the owner of WW Siding, Wilfredo Calles, who stated the checks were not legitimate. Three suspects in the business fled to their vehicles and the manager, Kinjalkumar Patel, followed them to the parking lot. The manager fired one shot into a vehicle as it drove towards him. The manager was struck by the vehicle as it left the parking lot onto Lewiston Road. A deputy working the road construction special in front of the business heard yelling from the parking lot. The deputy relayed information to Dispatch and deputies responded. One witness saw one of the suspect vehicles turn into Nicole’s Cove off Lewiston Road and that vehicle was stopped shortly thereafter at William Few Storage. Four Hispanic males fled on foot and two males were quickly detained by deputies and investigators. A third suspect was detained by the K9 tracking team on William Few Parkway. The K9 tracking team tracked the fourth suspect to I-20 Westbound behind William Few Storage where the subject left clothing items in the wood line beside I-20, but he was unable to be located. The three suspects were interviewed and claimed their names were Jorge Eduardo Munoz-Quiroz, Pedro Luis Cueto-Anillo, and Raul Reyes. They claimed to be from El Salvador and Colombia but were living in Houston, Texas. Their plan was to cash as many fraudulent checks as possible and regroup in Texas to divide the money. This was a planned event from an organized crime ring. The suspect vehicle was searched and a stolen handgun was found in the console, along with several Mexican Passports and identifications in different names and multiple checks from WW Siding as well as other businesses. Later, it was discovered that a fifth suspect ran from Lewiston Express towards Columbia Road, but was unable to be located. Bolo’s were sent out for the two outstanding known suspects. Around 10:30 this morning a fourth suspect was spotted on I-20 and he was taken into custody without incident. Warrants were issued for one count each of Forgery in the Fourth Degree, Obstruction of a Law Enforcement Officer, and Theft by Receiving Stolen Property. At the time of this email the fourth suspect was being questioned. All were denied bond.

Maj. Steve Morris, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office