Document: Man charged in car burglaries confessed to stealing diamond ring worth thousands

Police arrested a young man accused of recruiting teenagers to help him burglarize vehicles in a Far East El Paso neighborhood.

20-year-old Frankie Sanchez Jr., of Fabens, Texas, was arrested on July 27, 2018 and charged with two counts of Burglary of a Vehicle. Police said two other individuals, believed to be juveniles, have not been identified.

A criminal complaint affidavit states Sanchez is accused of stealing $323 from a vehicle and a 14 karat white gold diamond ring worth $3,200.

A Far East El Paso homeowner told ABC-7 he recorded footage of Sanchez and a group of juveniles stealing the $323 dollars from his car. Lawrence Madrid, who lives on Tierra Cortez street, inadvertently left the money he collected for his son’s baseball team inside his car, parked right outside his home. The next day, the money was gone.

Madrid checked his surveillance camera and saw a kid, who appeared to be in his early teens, approaching his truck. The kid is seen checking the door on Madrid’s truck. The kid and an older male, later identified by police as Sanchez, are then seen breaking into a car right next to Madrid’s truck.

“It absolutely angers me,” Madrid told ABC-7. He and his wife showed police the video and officers checked for finger prints. Police told Madrid that Sanchez recruited kids to check on cars and he would then move in to burglarize the vehicles, Madrid said.

The break-ins didn’t stop with Madrid’s car. The homeowner said the group also broke into a cars across the street. “They had stolen a wallet from one vehicle which had a thousand dollars in it. They also stole a wedding ring, sunglasses and watches,” Madrid said.

The homeowner told ABC-7 the rash of car break-ins stopped after Sanchez’s arrest. “I’m absolutely glad they’re caught. It makes our streets safer,” Madrid said.

The criminal complaint states Sanchez admitted to police he broke into the vehicles and stole the cash and ring.