Four Chilean men were arrested this month in Clark County, Ohio with items believed to have been stolen from a Hamilton County home on Dec. 9, the day Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's house was burglarized.
An affidavit says an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper on Jan. 10 pulled over a car with Florida tags that committed a lane violation on I-70 after investigators had been conducting surveillance on the occupants. Police said the four men inside had been seen by investigators leaving a Fairborn La Quinta Hotel carrying luggage. Fairborn is northeast of Dayton, Ohio, near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The affidavit says three of the men gave fake IDs during the traffic stop. It also states all four of the men — later identified as 22-year-old Jordan Sanchez, 23-year-old Bastian Morales, 38-year-old Sergio Cabello and 24-year-old Alexander Huaiquil-Chavez — were discovered to have been illegally in the country after overstaying their permissions.
#BREAKING: This is the Fairborn, Ohio La Quinta in investigators were surveying leading to the arrest of four Chileans in the US illegally who’re now accused of being part of South American theft rings breaking into multi-million dollar homes in the US.@WCPO 🧵: pic.twitter.com/89fnhguSTS
— Sean DeLancey (@SeanDeLanceyTV) January 21, 2025
During a search of the car, OSHP found two automatic center punch tools in the glove box. The affidavit says investigators identified the tool as being used by a South American theft group to break glass and enter homes.
Also inside, per the affidavit, was an old LSU t-shirt and Bengals hat. Both were believed to have been stolen in a Hamilton County burglary on Dec. 9. Previous reporting by Scripps News Cincinnati shows Burrow's home in Anderson Township was broken into while the former LSU star was playing the Cowboys in Dallas during Monday Night Football.
According to an incident report filled out by Hamilton County deputies, a woman arrived at Burrow's home and noticed the window to a bedroom had been shattered. Inside, the bedroom was "ransacked," deputies wrote.
A search warrant previously conducted on one of Sanchez's phones showed his phone was in the area of a Hamilton County burglary on Dec. 9 before being located in Miami on Dec. 11.
Investigators also noted that Morales was recognized as one of the men possibly involved in the Dec. 9 burglary. He was also seen in Miami on Dec. 11 exiting a Volkswagen Atlas known to be in the area of the burglary on Dec. 9. Chavez was also seen carrying a duffle bag outside the La Quinta similar to one seen in the Volkswagen Atlas on Dec. 11.
The affidavit says three of the men — Sanchez, Morales and Cabello — lied about their identities while being interviewed and told investigators they were in Ohio to vacation and see the snow. Chavez provided his real name and told investigators he purchased the glass-breaking tool at Home Depot but did not provide a reason for the purchase.
A grand jury indicted the four Tuesday for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, participating in a criminal gang and possessing criminal tools.
According to the affidavit, the arrests are part of the Southwest Ohio Burglary Task Force's ongoing investigation into multiple break-ins at multi-million dollar homes throughout the Tri-State. The task force is led by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Indian Hill Police Department. Members also include representatives from Amberly Village, Forest Park, Montgomery and Cincinnati police departments and the Hamilton County prosecutor's and sheriff's offices.
The affidavit says at least six South American groups have been arrested, five of which were Chilean.
This story was originally published by Taylor Weiter at Scripps News Cincinnati.
