Credit card fraud, online listings lead officers to burglary suspect

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The fraudulent use of a credit card belonging to a Cotulla resident helped alert the victim to a home burglary that was later exposed when a suspect began offering stolen items for sale via an online marketplace listing.
Investigator Homar Olivarez at the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office reported this week that he and other officers remain on the lookout for items that were stolen from a home in the 300 block of Frio Street over the winter holiday, a period of at least two months in which the homeowner was out of town.
Cotulla resident Jesus Ramirez Jr., 33, was arrested Friday, February 28, after attempting to evade a sting operation mounted by the sheriff’s office. He was jailed on a second-degree felony charge of burglary of a habitation and held at the county jail in lieu of a $30,000 cash bond. Additional charges related to his criminal activity and alleged use of a stolen credit card may yet be filed against him, according to the sheriff’s office this week.
“We received a call from a local homeowner who reported that he had been notified that one of his credit cards had been used at local businesses,” Investigator Olivarez said. “The homeowner was not in Cotulla at the time of those purchases, so these alerts were red flags for possible fraud.”
La Salle Deputy Spencer Dominguez met the homeowner and conducted an examination of the residence, noting that there were indications the house had been burglarized, according to Olivarez.
Among the items listed as stolen were electronics, power tools, rifles and handguns, and a number of antiques.

Jesus Ramirez, Jr.

It was the attempted online sale of those antiques and an investigation into the pawn of several items in Pearsall that led officers to identify Ramirez as the person of interest in the case.
At least ten items offered for sale at a pawn shop were identified as having come from the residence in Cotulla, Olivarez said.
“The antiques that had been stolen were of a unique nature, not the kind of thing you see often in an online marketplace,” the investigator said. “They included a vintage fuel pump, a cash register and other items that were specific to the victim’s family. They were easily recognizable.”
Officers spotted one of the items listed for sale online and contacted the vendor, who offered to meet a buyer at a Cotulla business and who also indicated he was in possession of other antiques that might be of interest to a prospective buyer.
The buyer, however, was a sheriff’s officer.
“Ramirez was seen near the place where we had planned to meet him, but he drove away,” Olivarez said.

“This was suspicious behavior on his part,” the investigator said. “We followed him, stopped him and questioned him.”
Officers had already identified Ramirez as the man responsible for having pawned stolen goods in Pearsall.
“Ramirez declined to make a statement related to his connection with the stolen property,” Olivarez said. “We are continuing our investigation into this burglary and the whereabouts of other items stolen from the house.”
The sheriff’s office secured a search warrant for Ramirez’ home on Friday and discovered a number of items that were identifiable as belonging to the burglary victim, the investigator said.
“If anyone in the Cotulla area has been offered items or has bought items from Ramirez in the past two months, we would like to hear from them,” the investigator said. “While we have recovered some stolen goods, we hope that people will come forward if they have bought anything from this man. Those goods may also have been stolen.”