Burglars Targeted Indians, East Asians In Middlesex County Break-Ins, DA Says

BURLINGTON, MA — Two men have been charged following residential burglaries in several Middlesex County towns, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

The break-ins allegedly targeted Indian and East Asian residents in Woburn, Wilmington, Burlington and North Reading, prosecutors said in a statement. The burglaries resulted in the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry.

David Rondon-Castro, 26, and Yeison Ramirez-Garcia, 25, both of Queens, New York, were arraigned Wednesday morning in Woburn District Court. The pair was charged with conspiracy to commit residential break-ins.

“Over the last several years the rise in these types of calculated and sophisticated break-ins have had a chilling effect on our communities," Ryan said in a statement. "The allegations these defendants face today are that they watched, monitored and surveilled victims based on their race and ethnicity and apparent belief that they may be more likely to have valuable heirlooms, jewelry, gold and cash in their homes as part of their heritage and culture."

The break-ins occurred in June and July of last year and were "committed in a highly coordinated fashion by multiple suspects operating from multiple vehicles over a weeks-long period..." according to the statement.

The scheme involved using GPS trackers' on the victim's vehicles, hiding cameras in the victims' yards, and using Wi-Fi jammers to disable victims' security systems.

An investigation found that the Middlesex County break-ins were part of an ongoing operation by the same group involving similar incidents across the state and other areas of the East Coast, according to the statement.

The group was tracked to a short-term rental outside of Baltimore, where authorities searched March 1. They found Rondon-Castro and Ramirez-Garcia inside, as well as a large quantity of surveillance cameras, battery packs, Wi-Fi hotspots and Wi-Fi jammers consistent with those used in the break-ins.

Another person, Itan Dami Beltran, 26, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was arrested at that time in New York City. He was also charged with conspiracy to commit residential break-ins for his role in the Middlesex incidents, according to prosecutors. He will be arraigned later this week.