ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A out-of-state man and woman admit to stealing an iPhone package once it got delivered to a house in Crestwood.
According to the Crestwood Police Department’s probable cause statement, the theft took place on Oct. 11 between 5:15 and 5:25 p.m. The victims told police that their doorbell camera had captured what appeared to be two deliveries to the porch in the span of 10 minutes.
Police say the footage captured the moment a FedEx worker driving the brand’s truck dropped off a package to the porch. Nearly 10 minutes later, the camera caught a maroon Jeep stopping outside the residence, and a dark-skinned man wearing a FedEx shirt, Roberto Martinez-Martinez (age not provided), got out and replaced the package with an empty box before getting back in the Jeep and leaving.
Through the use of license plate readers and cameras in Crestwood, police were able to obtain an Ohio license plate number from the Jeep around the time the theft occurred. Police say the Jeep is registered to the suspect, Graciela Edith Hernandez-Perez (age not provided).
The Jeep was later located by police in Frontenac and was followed until the vehicle slowly approached a house where a FedEx truck was set to make a delivery. Police say the Jeep did not stop at the house, but they later learned that the FedEx truck had not made it’s anticipated delivery to the house at the time.
Police stopped the Jeep shortly after and found Hernandez-Perez driving the vehicle and Martinez-Martinez sitting in the passenger seat. Police say they found a FedEx shirt and other clothing in the vehicle and that Martinez-Martinez matched the description of the man in the doorbell footage accused of stealing the package.
Hernandez-Perez and Martinez-Martinez were arrested and were interviewed separately. According to police, both suspects are residents of Ohio and are citizens of the Dominican Republic, whose immigration status in the United States is unknown.
During the interviews, police say both suspects confessed to working together to steal the package from the victim’s residence in Crestwood. Police say Hernandez-Perez also admitted to driving Martinez-Martinez to various locations to help take packages that had been delivered.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged both Hernandez-Perez and Martinez-Martinez with one count each of stealing – $750 or more. Once in custody, Hernandez-Perez and Martinez-Martinez will be held on a $50,000 cash-only, no 10% bond.
