The eagle-eyed owner of an Ajijic coffee shop has become a local hero after providing a tip leading to the arrest of three men linked to a series of home invasions perpetrated in the Chapala area last January.
Hugo Galindo, proprietor of Coffee and Bagels, was surfing the internet early last week in search of a good deal on purchasing a used car. He was astounded when the photo of a bright red Volvo convertible popped up on the screen, easily recognizable as one of three vehicles stolen from the Chapala Haciendas home of friends Bill and Snooky Heim on January 12. He passed on the information to the Heims, they immediately contacted their insurance company which in turn notified the authorities.
Detectives assigned to the state prosecutor’s auto theft unit promptly located the seller who fingered alleged members of a criminal gang based in El Salto. On Wednesday, August 1, agents nabbed Martin Alejandro Munguia Romero, 22, Arturo Coronado Diaz, 27, and Jose Juan Olivas Gamez, 30. By the end of the week the three suspects were behind bars at Chapala’s regional jail facing formal charges of aggravated robbery.
According to Gabriel Sanchez , supervisor of the Chapala Ministerio Publico district attorney’s office (MP), Munguia Romero has been positively identified as one of the bandits who robbed the Heims and six other people present at their home. The victims were tied up at gunpoint and forced to lie down on the floor while the armed gang ransacked the premises, making off with a booty of cash, jewelry, electronic gear and other valuables as well as a 1999 Dodge Neon a 2005 model Lexus, the 2004 Volvo convertible belonging to the Heims and their companions. Police recovered the first two vehicles within days after the crime was committed and subsequently returned them to their owners.
Sanchez told the Reporter that statements taken from the three suspects implicate them in the heist, as well as in similar home invasions and break-ins reported in Chapala Haciendas and Brisas de Chapala during the month of January. Arrest warrants have also been issued against two other individuals charged with acquisition of stolen goods related to these cases.