Hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of designer sunglasses stolen from the Murfreesboro Sunglass Hut and two stores in South Carolina have been recovered in Florida with the assistance from the Miami Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Task Force.
Murfreesboro Police Department Criminal Investigations Division Detective Aaron Gonzalez shared information with authorities in Florida about the stolen sunglasses being shipped to an address in Miami. This led to a search warrant.
HSI agents and Miami police executed the warrant at the residence in Miami on Feb. 6, but the packages were no longer there. The investigation led law enforcement officers to another location where they seized nine boxes containing stolen sunglasses and merchandise from Murfreesboro, Gaffney, South Carolina, Blufton, South Carolina, valued at $890,000.
On Jan. 29, Murfreesboro police in collaboration with the Smyrna Police Department, Hendersonville Police Department, Goodlettsville Police Department, the MPD Real Time Crime Center Crime Data Analysts and LPR technology, led to the arrest of three Florida men. MPD seized roughly $400,000 worth of sunglasses.
Detective Gonzalez charged Alexander Trujillo Gomez, 48, Xavier Perez, 52, and Lazaro Salazar Hechavarria, 28, all from Miami, with two counts of burglary, theft of property valued at $250,000 and over, and vandalism over $1,000. Charges are pending in Hendersonville and in South Carolina.
In total, the trio is accused of stealing $1.2 million worth of designer sunglasses, merchandise, and cash in the multiple state retail theft ring.
Salazar-Hechavarria, Trujillo-Gomez, and Perez remain in custody at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center, each held on a $1 million bond. A hearing is set Feb. 13 in General Sessions Court.
