6 people were arrested for stealing wallets and cell phones at a Florida music festival

• Six people arrested for stealing wallets and cell phones.
• They targeted the Welcome to Rockville music festival.
• The thieves face multiple charges.

On Friday, May 10, at around 11:00 p.m., six people were arrested on multiple charges after authorities linked them to the theft of at least 100 cell phones and numerous credit cards and wallets.

This occurred during the Welcome to Rockville 2024 music festival in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Following a number of complaints during the event, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office deployed undercover officers throughout the venue.

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Six people arrested at Welcome to Rockville 2024 music festival

The arrests included Brandon Steven Páez Díaz, David Medina Cervantes, Jessica Leyssa Bovona Pajar, Brenda Moros and two other women.

The identities of the latter could not be confirmed due to their immigration status.

«Some of them tried to flee, but were quickly apprehended. More than 50 phones were recovered from the suspects,» the Volusia Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Authorities explained that the suspects used the same method in all of the thefts.

Their modus operandi

«Witnesses described suspects working in pairs – one reaching into victims’ pockets, bags, or purses, stealing the contents, then handing them off to another suspect,» the statement explains.

During post-arrest interrogations, all the alleged culprits denied knowing each other.

They stated that they arrived separately and in different vehicles, said Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

However, there were two commonalities among all the accused, noted Chitwood.

All of the thieves were undocumented immigrants

«One consistent story is that they were contacted by three or four Cubans who told them they could go to Daytona Beach and make some money ‘cleaning,'» the statement read.

All of the suspects are undocumented Hispanic immigrants.

«Detectives determined that most of the suspects are Colombian citizens who entered the United States illegally. They lived in Los Angeles and moved to Miami,» the official report stated.

All were arrested on multiple charges of grand theft and are being held without bail.

The suspects’ immigration status

Furthermore, Homeland Security was notified about the immigration status of the accused.

For the authorities, the investigation is just beginning. «We are trying to identify who the Cuban individuals were,» added the sheriff.

«Criminal activity like this will not be tolerated,» emphasized Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who also urged those who had been robbed during the event to come forward to retrieve their phones.

«Here are the phones recovered from a single bag,» he said.