ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – One man is in custody and two others are at large in connection with a stolen credit and debit card ring in Sunset Hills. All three are Chilean nationals with no known permanent address and no known ties to the St. Louis area.
According to multiple probable cause statements filed by the Sunset Hills and St. Louis County Police Departments, the crimes happened between February and April, with victims reporting their credit and debit cards stolen from their vehicles at local parks.
On February 1, a woman told police several credit cards were taken from her car at Watson Trail Park. A short time later, one of the cards was used to purchase more than $1,200 in merchandise at Sam’s Club on Manchester Road.
That same day, several people reported similar thefts while their vehicles were parked at Laumeier Sculpture Park. Those cards were later used at West County Center.
On February 3, a man told police several of his cards and a cellphone were taken from his car at Emenegger Nature Park. One of the cards was used to make a purchase of nearly $2,500 at Best Buy on South Lindbergh Boulevard.
Another victim said credit cards and $300 to $400 in cash were stolen from his unlocked vehicle while it was parked at the Meramec Greenway Trailhead in Valley Park. One of the stolen cards was used at the Best Buy in Chesterfield to purchase more than $1,300 in merchandise. The thieves made other unsuccessful attempts to use the stolen cards at a nearby Wal-Mart.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video from the thefts and tied those individuals to a vehicle seen on license plate readers in the vicinity of the thefts at the times they occurred.
On April 21, a woman told Sunset Hills police that several credit and debit cards were stolen from her car, which was parked at Stieren Park. By the time she learned her cards had been taken, one of the debit cards had been used at the Wal-Mart in Fenton to purchase more than $800 in merchandise. Store surveillance video linked the suspect and his vehicle to the other thefts.
Police claim Matias Montes-Vega rented the vehicle in Florida using a forged Venezuelan driver’s license under a different name. Investigators questioned employees at the various stores where the stolen credit and debit cards were used and successfully tied Montes-Vega and two accomplices, Angelo Jana-Nanculeo and Sebastian Rubio, to the thefts.
According to a Sunset Hills Police Department spokesman, Rubio was arrested in Alabama and remains in custody there, pending extradition. Meanwhile, a judge has issued at-large warrants for both Jana-Nanculeo and Montes-Vega.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to contact the Sunset Hills Police Department or CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS.
