Three Valley painters were taken into custody after police discovered what they described as a highly organized, multi-county commercial burglary organization that stole an estimated $40,000 in paint from area construction projects to market for quick cash.
Goodyear police detained Jose Zepeda, Rogelio Zepeda, and Nicole Yamileth Gallardo during a traffic stop in Phoenix on Wednesday. Investigators, working with numerous West Valley agencies, solved the complex case with a combination of high-tech tracking, license plate readers, and a victim’s concealed Apple AirTag. Police said the suspects, all former employees of one of the targeted enterprises, utilized inside information about delivery dates to repeatedly target secure construction containers.
The case broke open on July 3, when an operator for a victimized painting subcontractor reported a crime in San Tan Valley. Having previously suffered losses, the company concealed an Apple AirTag inside a five-gallon paint bucket, allowing them to follow the stolen products in real time to an Avondale apartment complex. When police arrived, they discovered a white Toyota 4-Runner with several of the stolen paint buckets readily visible inside.
Detectives then used the Flock license plate reader camera network to break the case wide open. Camera logs revealed that the 4Runner was traveling with a black Toyota Tundra registered to Gallardo. The cameras apparently caught the Tundra’s truck bed absolutely empty before a reported burglary and overflowing with five-gallon paint containers shortly afterward. Police eventually linked a third vehicle, a gray Jeep Grand Cherokee that belonged to Jose Zepeda, to the heist locations.
Police stopped the suspects’ 4-Runner near 91st and Campbell Avenues in Phoenix. Following their arrest, the three suspects reportedly admitted to a number of burglaries in Goodyear, Surprise, Buckeye, and Pinal counties during the previous two months. According to police, they admitted to breaking into secure storage boxes with saws and bolt cutters. According to a police report, the suspects informed detectives that they sold the stolen paint, which retails for up to $100 per bucket, for only $25 to $40 each to help pay their expenses because they were not making enough money at their present painting jobs.
According to court filings, the targeted burglaries were not a coincidence. Investigators determined that Jose, Rogelio, and Gallardo were all competent painters who had previously worked at Roadrunner Drywall and Paint, a major victim of the thefts. This employment history provided them with direct information on when bulk paint deliveries to Valley building sites occurred and where the materials were stored.
Search warrants executed at Gallardo’s Phoenix house and the Zepeda brothers’ Avondale apartment resulted in a large amount of evidence. Officers claim they discovered approximately 270 stolen five-gallon paint buckets, blue bolt cutters, various cut locks, and the specific clothing and shoes worn by a suspect seen on the construction site security camera.
The three suspects have all been arrested on six counts of burglary and one count of trafficking stolen stuff. While prosecutors sought a $50,000 bond for each suspect owing to the magnitude of the thefts and their ties to Mexico, a judge reduced their amounts to $20,000.
Authorities expect more charges to be filed in Pinal County as the investigation progresses.
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