San Jose police detectives have arrested three East Bay men suspected in a string of strong-armed robberies targeting members of the city's Asian American Pacific Islander community, the police department said Monday.
Joel Contreras Barron, 26, of Antioch; Francisco Rincon, 28, of Richmond; and Juan Rodriguez-Ramirez, 26, of Richmond are suspected in 13 robberies, five grand thefts and countless vehicle burglaries across the Bay Area, police said.
The crimes occured between December 2022 and February 2023, and the suspects appeared to be targeting the AAPI community, police said.
Contreras was arrested April 14 after a string of vehicle burglaries at the Grand Century Mall in San Jose, police said. Alvarado and Rincon were arrested in Richmond on April 26.
Detectives recovered various pieces of stolen property, about $6,000 in cash, high-capacity magazines and ammunition.
The suspects were booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail and San Joaquin County Jail on multiple felony charges. Police said they are working with the district attorney's office to see if they can add "hate crime" to the charges to further reassure the AAPI community.
"And we want to rest assure and let everybody know if you frequent these shopping centers, or you're a member of the AAPI community, these criminals will not go unpunished," San Jose police spokesman Steven Aponte said.
Local
But Deputy District Attorney Charles Huang points out state law is very specific when it comes to hate crimes.
"And it's very difficult to prove a hate crime unless somebody says something very specific that they're committing this crime for the purposes against a protected class," Huang said.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Merchants at the Grand Century Mall on Monday said they were relieved to hear about the arrests.
"There's a big concern in the Asian community where there's multiple armed robberies going on," merchant Linda Thai said. "Luckily for us here at Grand Century mall we have hired private security and the San Jose Police Department."
San Pablo, Santa Clara and Stockton police assisted in the investigation, SJPD said.
Anyone with information about the case should contact Detective Yee of the San José Police Robbery Unit via email: 4342@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4166.
