DATE: June 13, 2024
SUBJECT: Daytime Burglar Using a Signal Jammer Apprehended
RELEASE NUMBER: 2024-NR-0612
CONTACT: Sheriff Noah Robinson
AUTHORITY: Sheriff Noah Robinson
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office has announced the arrest of a suspect related to a residential burglary that took place in broad daylight in Cambridge Village, located in the northern area of Vanderburgh County.
A couple found themselves in a distressing situation on Sunday, June 9, 2024, when they returned to their Cambridge Village home to find two men inside. The suspects fled, with one escaping in a gray Jeep.
The Sheriff’s Office received information regarding a vehicle description. A deputy in the vicinity identified a Jeep that matched the description traveling south on Highway 41 near Baseline Road. The driver, later recognized as Jaime Yovany Riquelme Riveras, matched the homeowners' account.
Riveras reported to deputies that he was on his way from St. Louis, Missouri, to Orlando, Florida, and he denied having stopped in the Evansville area. Following this, a search was conducted using the FLOCK camera system. The suspect's vehicle and its matching license plate were detected on FLOCK entering Cambridge Village approximately one hour before the burglary happened. Cambridge Village has recently partnered with the Sheriff’s Office to implement the FLOCK license plate reader system in their neighborhood.
During a search of the vehicle, deputies located pry bars, cell phones, as well as clothing matching the suspect`s description given by the homeowners. A signal-jamming device was also found in the rear of the vehicle. This device was specifically designed to scramble Wi-Fi and cellular signals and is illegal to operate under federal law. When activated, cameras and other security devices dependent on Wi-Fi or cellular signals cease to function. While stopping the vehicle the deputy’s in-car computer became disabled, likely a result of the still operating cell phone jammer. The FLOCK system is largely immune from signal jammers since images are stored locally in a buffer and transmitted once the lost connection is reestablished.
Riveras was interviewed at the Sheriff’s Office Operations Center regarding his involvement in the burglary. He requested legal counsel and did not make any additional comments. He did inform the investigators that he had come to the United States in April and was born in Chile.
Drawing from eyewitness statements and images from the FLOCK system, a search warrant was granted for the extraction of data from two confiscated cell phones. One device was taken from Riveras during his arrest, while the other was seized from the vehicle. The GPS location data indicated that Riveras' phone was at the victim's residence at the time of the burglary.
Sheriff Noah Robinson commented, “Those criminals armed with the latest technology were still outsmarted by the quick-thinking actions of homeowners and the keen observations of Sheriff’s deputies. I would like to thank the Cambridge Village Homeowners Association for their initiative in adopting FLOCK and collaborating with the Sheriff’s Office. This system will undoubtedly yield positive results in the future.”
The Sheriff’s Office is coordinating with federal law enforcement partners to investigate further charges concerning the jamming device. GPS data obtained from the suspects' phones has already connected them to multiple burglaries in other states. The investigation is ongoing, as Rivera's accomplice has not yet been located.