Missouri police arrested four Romanian nationals this week who are accused of stealing over $1 million worth of jewelry from a business in Florida.
On April 11, two women and a man walked into a jewelry business on Scenic Highway 30A in Walton County, Florida. The trio allegedly left the store with several pieces of jewelry, according to a press release from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, with a total retail value of more than $1 million, before fleeing in a black SUV.
An investigator with the sheriff’s office recognized the suspects from a previous case he worked on in December 2022, after a Rolex watch was stolen from a Miramar Beach jeweler using what police described as a sleight-of-hand technique.
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In the case of the Rolex, the same three individuals, identified as Stela Sava, Terca Tarnovan and Vasile Lacatus, and an additional man, later identified as George Paun, were people of interest.
A week after the April 11 theft, the black SUV was found abandoned in Santa Rosa Beach. Investigators spoke to a woman who provided the three suspects a ride after they said their vehicle had broken down, though after the woman dropped off the suspects, Lacatus allegedly used his phone to communicate with her.
Video surveillance captured in the area confirmed the same three individuals who were given a ride were the same trio from the Walton County jewelry heist.
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The sheriff’s office obtained a search warrant to track Lacatus’s cellphone and was connected to a New York Police Department detective.
The detective, along with an officer in the United Kingdom, confirmed with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office the group was part of a Romanian criminal network of more than 1,400 associates in the U.S., who have warrants in multiple states, the press release read.
On Monday, Lacatus’s phone led investigators to a home in St. Charles, Missouri, where local police later located and arrested the four suspects.
All four individuals have been charged with grand theft over $20,000, and grand theft in concert with one or more people for allegedly stealing the Rolex in December.
Sava, Tarnovan and Lacatus also have warrants for grand theft over $100,000 and grand theft in concert with one or more people for the alleged heist April 11.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office said additional agencies continue to investigate the suspects, including the Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation and multiple state and local law enforcement agencies.
