Longtime Brownsville resident Rafael Arredondo called his housekeeper on Acacia Lake Drive on a Friday evening in December 2010 to tell her he was on his way home. She answered as usual, and everything seemed normal, the 63-year-old surgeon said.
What he didn’t know was that four men had forced their way into the home and bound his housekeeper and gardener, threatening them with guns and a knife.
The men forced the housekeeper to take her employer’s call and lure him home, police said.
"I pushed the door to come in, and they grabbed my wrist and pulled me in," Arredondo said, looking back to that night which led to him being forced to withdraw money from several bank accounts around the city.
Jorge Cervantes, 55, Epigmenio Ahumada, 28, and Jorge Ramirez, 28, have now been arrested and face charges of aggravated kidnapping, robbery and engaging in organized criminal activity. Police are still searching for a fourth suspect, Gabriel Ahumada, believed to be hiding out in Mexico.
Brownsville police spokesman J.J. Treviño said the intruders at Arredondo’s house were wielding handguns and made death threats to Arredondo, his employees, and a couple who had arrived home with him.
The arrests — which followed a yearlong investigation conducted by Brownsville Police, special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals — brought peace of mind to Arredondo, who had feared for his family and friends.
"I’ve lived in Brownsville for 30 years. It was a horrible thing, completely unthinkable," he said.
On that Friday evening, the intruders had rung the doorbell to the residence, located in the 500 block of Acacia Lake Drive. When the housekeeper opened the door, the men — bandanas covering their faces — threatened her with guns and a knife, Treviño said.
The home is on a winding street off Boca Chica Boulevard, a street that is home to large, gated residences, set far back behind sweeping lawns.
The four men tied up the housekeeper and a gardener with duct tape and zip ties and forced them to the floor. They ransacked the home, searching for valuables and communicating with each other via cellphone, Treviño said.
Arredondo arrived accompanied by a couple. All three were forced inside, and the couple were bound.
"They were initially very rough but I managed to calm them down," Arredondo said of the intruders. "The couple with me was crying and I calmed them down. I was trying to make sense of what was happening but it was too difficult."
With a gun to his head, the men told Arredondo that they needed money, and they took some jewelry from safes in the house.
Fearing for his life, Arredondo told them he could supply them with money from the bank in the morning if they would not hurt anyone in the house.
The men agreed.
They took all phones from the house except that of the Arredondo, as well as anything they believed might have recording capabilities, Treviño said. They told the people who were bound to wait 20 minutes before freeing themselves and warned them against calling police, saying the house was being watched.
The intruders said they would kill them if they didn’t follow instructions, Arredondo said.
The next morning, a Saturday, the men called and told Arredondo to drive to his banks and make large withdrawals. Following instructions, he withdrew the money and left it on the side of the road, on FM 106.
Arredondo, who worked with police to identify the suspects, recognized one as a contractor who had worked on his home. During the robbery, Arredondo noticed the men seemed to know their way around the house.
"I thought it was an inside job," he said.
Court records show he helped identify a suspect for police last July. Investigators eventually secured four arrest warrants for four suspects and served three of them in the past two weeks.
Arredondo said he did not call police for three days after the robbery for fear of retaliation. His employees quit soon after the incident, he said.
"I wasn’t going to say anything but had to break the silence because of the threat that other people were going to be assaulted," he said of calling the police.
Treviño said two of the suspects have confessed. He declined to say how much money was stolen.
What he didn’t know was that four men had forced their way into the home and bound his housekeeper and gardener, threatening them with guns and a knife.
The men forced the housekeeper to take her employer’s call and lure him home, police said.
"I pushed the door to come in, and they grabbed my wrist and pulled me in," Arredondo said, looking back to that night which led to him being forced to withdraw money from several bank accounts around the city.
Jorge Cervantes, 55, Epigmenio Ahumada, 28, and Jorge Ramirez, 28, have now been arrested and face charges of aggravated kidnapping, robbery and engaging in organized criminal activity. Police are still searching for a fourth suspect, Gabriel Ahumada, believed to be hiding out in Mexico.
Brownsville police spokesman J.J. Treviño said the intruders at Arredondo’s house were wielding handguns and made death threats to Arredondo, his employees, and a couple who had arrived home with him.
The arrests — which followed a yearlong investigation conducted by Brownsville Police, special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals — brought peace of mind to Arredondo, who had feared for his family and friends.
"I’ve lived in Brownsville for 30 years. It was a horrible thing, completely unthinkable," he said.
On that Friday evening, the intruders had rung the doorbell to the residence, located in the 500 block of Acacia Lake Drive. When the housekeeper opened the door, the men — bandanas covering their faces — threatened her with guns and a knife, Treviño said.
The home is on a winding street off Boca Chica Boulevard, a street that is home to large, gated residences, set far back behind sweeping lawns.
The four men tied up the housekeeper and a gardener with duct tape and zip ties and forced them to the floor. They ransacked the home, searching for valuables and communicating with each other via cellphone, Treviño said.
Arredondo arrived accompanied by a couple. All three were forced inside, and the couple were bound.
"They were initially very rough but I managed to calm them down," Arredondo said of the intruders. "The couple with me was crying and I calmed them down. I was trying to make sense of what was happening but it was too difficult."
With a gun to his head, the men told Arredondo that they needed money, and they took some jewelry from safes in the house.
Fearing for his life, Arredondo told them he could supply them with money from the bank in the morning if they would not hurt anyone in the house.
The men agreed.
They took all phones from the house except that of the Arredondo, as well as anything they believed might have recording capabilities, Treviño said. They told the people who were bound to wait 20 minutes before freeing themselves and warned them against calling police, saying the house was being watched.
The intruders said they would kill them if they didn’t follow instructions, Arredondo said.
The next morning, a Saturday, the men called and told Arredondo to drive to his banks and make large withdrawals. Following instructions, he withdrew the money and left it on the side of the road, on FM 106.
Arredondo, who worked with police to identify the suspects, recognized one as a contractor who had worked on his home. During the robbery, Arredondo noticed the men seemed to know their way around the house.
"I thought it was an inside job," he said.
Court records show he helped identify a suspect for police last July. Investigators eventually secured four arrest warrants for four suspects and served three of them in the past two weeks.
Arredondo said he did not call police for three days after the robbery for fear of retaliation. His employees quit soon after the incident, he said.
"I wasn’t going to say anything but had to break the silence because of the threat that other people were going to be assaulted," he said of calling the police.
Treviño said two of the suspects have confessed. He declined to say how much money was stolen.
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