Four Venezuelan migrants suspected to be part of a transnational criminal organization were taken into custody after authorities say they stole thousands in products from Gurnee Mills mall.
The Gurnee Police Department responded on Saturday to inside Gurnee Mills mall at Kohl’s, 6120 Grand Avenue in Gurnee, for a report of a retail theft.
A loss prevention officer reported seeing three males and a female walk out of the store with merchandise, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Emma Smoler.
The officer described the four suspects and provided photos of them from a surveillance video.
The suspects were wearing distinctive and identifiable clothing, Smoler said.
The loss prevention officer said the suspects were already identified as being part of a larger crew.
Smoler said a car with distinctive writing on the rear windshield was identified.
The Gurnee Police Department received a hit for the vehicle from the Flock Safety license plate reader system after the car returned to the mall.
Officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle, which was occupied by four people who matched the description of the suspects in the retail theft, Smoler said.
A large magnet known to take sensors off of merchandise was seen in plain view in the car.
Smoler said the four suspects in the car were positively identified by the loss prevention officer as the suspects in the retail theft.
Esther L. Vega-Escobar, 30; Frank T. Silva-Rivera, 26; Jose J. Chirino-Falcon, 20; and Dany D. Hernandez-Colina, 26, were each charged with one count of retail theft, a Class 3 felony.
Stolen merchandise from the Kohl’s was recovered from the trunk of the car. The total value of the merchandise, which included suitcases, clothing and shoes, was over $2,300.
A small machete, multiple phones and laptops were also found in the car. The suspects were smashing phones when they were stopped by police.
Vega-Escobar, Silva-Rivera and Hernandez-Colina were released after appearing in First Appearance Court on Sunday.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office did not file petitions to detain the three pending trial.
Lake County Judge Donna-Jo Vorderstrasse placed the three of them on Level 2 pre-trial release and ordered them not to leave the state and have no contact with Gurnee Mills or any Kohl’s store.
The state’s attorney’s office did file a petition to detain Chirino-Falcon and Vorderstrasse ordered him held for a detention hearing, which took place on Tuesday afternoon.
During that hearing, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Nicholas Shepherd said all four suspects live at a refugee camp in Chicago.
Officers believe the suspects are part of a new transnational crime organization called “Tren de Aragua,” Shepherd said.
According to a January report by Telemundo, Tren de Aragua, also known as the TDA, is Venezuela’s largest criminal organization and has expanded operations into the United States, including Chicago.
Chirino-Falcon, Vega-Escobar, Silva-Rivera and Hernandez-Colina were interviewed and said they knew what the TDA was.
One of the suspects admitted to being part of it and said there was a lot of money in it, Shepherd said. Two of the suspects had tattoos indicative of the TDA.
Chirino-Falcon has two other retail theft cases pending in Cook County. In one of those cases, a failure to appear warrant has been issued.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak granted the state’s petition and ordered Chirino-Falcon held pending trial after agreeing with prosecutors that he is a willful flight risk.
“Frankly, if I let him out, he’s just going to disappear into the mist so to speak,” the judge said, noting that the man came to the country illegally and is part of a massive criminal organization. “He’s the poster child for willful flight.”