RICO charges for men accused of breaking into 492 cars in metro Atlanta

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Five men, currently behind bars and accused of breaking into hundreds of cars, now face racketeering charges. Gwinnett County police say they are part of an organized ring that targeted 492 vehicles around metro Atlanta. Two other men are still on the run. 

Prosecutors normally use racketeering, also known as RICO laws, to target gangsters. 

Gwinnett County Police tell FOX 5 that a total of seven men are part of a ring operating out of East Point that went on a crime spree from 2022 through late last year. 

"They were an organized group of individuals who targeted these cars," said Sgt. Collin Flynn with the Gwinnett County Police Department. "They’ll target shopping centers, they’ll got to residential areas, anywhere they think they can quickly get in and out and break into as many cars as possible." 

"They had a safe house in East Point, where they took a lot of the stolen merchandise back to," Flynn said. Investigators say they found a cache of weapons at that safe house. "They located stolen guns, identification related to the victims, and other items stolen from inside the car." 

Randy Martinez, Kylijah Yates, Myles David Cameron, Emmanuel Carvarria-Ornelas, and Javaris Gamble were in custody as of Thursday evening. Giovanni Louis Bell and Kejuan Miliam were still on the run. "We believe these people are extremely dangerous," Flynn said. 

Investigators say last July in Norcross a suspect opened fire at a homeowner who tried to confront them. "If they’re willing to shoot at someone just because they’re caught breaking into a car, they’re obviously willing to hurt or kill someone," Flynn said. 

Kenya Roblero-Garcia was one of the victims. She’s very glad to hear the suspects now face RICO charges. "They’re doing the right thing. They’re actually charging them for the right stuff," Roblero-Garcia said. "It gives me a little bit of hope. They already caught most of them, so hopefully they get the other two." 

Call police or Crime Stoppers Atlanta if you have any information on where they may be.