Police may have found thieves who took large sums of cash

EVERETT — Police say they may have found the men responsible for a string of thefts and a robbery that netted more than $91,000 in recent months.

On Thursday they said they are looking for more information, more suspects — and potentially more victims.

A total of 17 people in the region have reported falling prey, a dozen in the city, Everett police spokesman Aaron Snell said.

All of the victims had recently withdrawn large sums of cash from banks.

Dan Hoffman, 34, of Marysville, said he had run out of checks. He needed $12,000 to pay a supplier for lumber for his business building custom decks.

He made the withdrawal a few weeks back at the Boeing Employees Credit Union branch at 11127 Evergreen Way, he said. He stopped at an Everett hardware store on the way home.

Moments later, a man came into the store to say someone’s truck alarm was going off.

The money was gone from Hoffman’s center console. His doors were closed and no windows were broken.

“They punched my lock and took the money and were gone,” he said.

Some of the victims had the money stolen from their vehicles while running errands. Two of the thefts happened after the vehicles’ tires were slashed and the victims were approached by strangers. One man said he was robbed at gunpoint after he stopped to help push a vehicle that was blocking the roadway, Snell said.

It’s believed that the victims were followed from the banks, Snell said. In Everett, 11 of the victims had withdrawn cash from the BECU on Evergreen Way. One victim had just visited a Wells Fargo bank in the 7500 block of Evergreen Way.

On July 17, Everett police and detectives with the Snohomish Regional Drug &Gang Task Force conducted surveillance in hope of identifying suspects. Two men were arrested after they allegedly stole money from an undercover vehicle, Snell said.

Giovanny Ramirez-Pedraza, 28, of Renton, and Javier Rojas-Diaz, 45, of Kent, were booked into the Snohomish County Jail and later released.

Police on Thursday released the suspects’ photographs and that of a third unidentified man they believe was involved. There may be others, Snell said.

Detectives urge anyone with information about these incidents or who has been a victim of a similar crime to call the Everett Police Department tip line at 425-257-8450 or Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 800-222-TIPS.