Follow up on Pasadena shooting...
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=5819258
So now what do you think....
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=5819258
PASADENA, TX -- There are new details about the two suspected burglars who were shot and killed by a Pasadena homeowner. Investigators are now looking into the possibility the two men were connected to an illegal driver's license scheme. And as we found out their method of attack is very similar to other cases.
Though they're similar, as of right now, Pasadena police tell us there is nothing to substantiate a link between the two suspects who were killed and other crimes, including a rash of burglaries. Yet, the circumstances surrounding this case and the others are remarkably similar.
Hernando Riacos Torres is one of two suspected burglars shot and killed by a Pasadena homeowner who believed he and his accomplice were breaking into a neighbor's house. It turns out Torres had a fake ID and was using an alias, going by the name Miguel DeJesus. We've learned he and Diego Ortiz, both Columbian nationals, may be connected to a driver's license scheme involving immigrants who may have been using fake documents to obtain Texas licenses.
A Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman tells us, "There has been an influx of Columbians trying to obtain driver's licenses through what we have determined to be fraudulent methods."
Authorities arrested more than a dozen people in Houston, suspects who have since been charged with tampering with government documents and misuse of identifying information. Those arrests, we've learned, were made over the last several months.
DPS investigators have since contacted the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
While we still don't know if the two men were part of a larger crime ring involving Columbians, their method of operation is strikingly similar to crimes committed by a group of men believed to be members of a Columbian crime gang.
Last year, a rash of burglaries and home invasions were reported, stretching from Harris to Fort Bend County. Victims described their attackers as black men with Spanish accents. Authorities say were known to target families of Asian descent. An Asian family lived in the home Riacos Torres and Oritz allegedly broke into last month.
We did get a call back from federal immigration officials. A spokesperson tells us Diego Ortiz and Hernado Riacos Torres were both in the US illegally and that Ortiz had been deported but came back.
Pasadena police plan to hand over the findings of its investigation to the DA's office on Monday.
So now what do you think....