Camden men ran a car theft ring linked to the killing of a Philadelphia police officer, N.J. officials say

Under the cover of night, law enforcement officials say, the men crept into the parking lots of airports and car dealerships to steal Jeeps, Dodges, and Ram trucks.

Using screwdrivers and bolt cutters, they broke into cars and drove them back to their home base in Camden, police said. There, officials said, they would strip a car of its license plate, assign it a new VIN number, and fraudulently reregister the vehicle before selling it over social media for thousands of dollars.

The group stole at least 41 cars valued at more than $1 million across New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania in about 2½ years, officials said, and were willing to shoot anyone who got in their way — even a Philadelphia police officer.

It was the killing of Officer Richard Mendez at Philadelphia International Airport in October 2023 that led, in part, to the unraveling of the South Jersey enterprise — and this week, to racketeering charges brought by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office against 13 members of the crew.

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin on Friday said that brothers Alex and Alexi Vargas, alongside associate Albert Santana-Fernandez, oversaw the operations of the Camden-based, multistate theft ring.

The Vargases, he said, would identify cars — mostly Jeep Cherokees, Dodge Durangos and Chargers, and Ram trucks — then send their 10 underlings to steal and repackage the cars to be sold.

Their scheme escalated in October 2023. On the night of Oct. 12, 2023, police said four of the thieves, after stealing a Dodge Durango in South Philadelphia, drove to Philadelphia International Airport in hopes of nabbing another vehicle.

It was around 11 p.m., and Mendez and his partner, Officer Raul Ortiz, were just beginning their shift when they saw the group attempting to steal a car. The officers tried to intervene when police say Yobranny Martinez-Fernandez shot Mendez multiple times, killing him. Ortiz was also shot, but survived.

Police say Martinez-Fernandez and his associates, Alexander Batista-Polanco and Hendrick Peña-Fernandez, then fled in the stolen SUV back to South Jersey, where they lit it on fire.

A fourth member of the group was shot and killed during the crime, police said. Jesus Madera Duran was standing behind Mendez when Martinez-Fernandez started shooting, police said, and was fatally struck by friendly fire.

New Jersey law enforcement officials had been in the early stages of investigating the car theft ring run by the Vargas brothers when Mendez was killed, said Theresa L. Hilton, director of the criminal investigation unit of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

Detectives and prosecutors in Philadelphia, as part of their investigation into the men who killed Mendez, then began to work with New Jersey officials to probe and bring down the larger criminal enterprise, she said.

Hilton said the group is also connected to a nonfatal shooting in Winslow Township in September 2023. She declined to say how much money the group made from the scheme between July 2021 and January 2024.

“This was an organized, calculated and highly coordinated enterprise motivated by a profit and at the expense of public safety,” she said.

Assistant District Attorney Cydney Pope of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, who is prosecuting the three men connected to Mendez’s killing, said the group is affiliated with a gang known as Trinitarios, a criminal organization founded by Dominicans that started in New York in the 1990s.

The other men charged in the crew are: Franklyn Rodriguez-Santana, Randy Garcia-Liriano, Jeitoni Suarez-Cuevas, Lewys Santana-Pichardo, Nelfi Fortuna-Fernandez, Steven Fernandez-Ulloa, and Jimmy Marte-Toledo.

Most are from Camden and Pennsauken. Santana-Fernandez, who officials said is considered the “enforcer” of the group, is from Philadelphia.

The men are charged with racketeering, participating in an auto-theft ring, conspiracy, and a host of related crimes. Some are charged with illegal gun possession. If convicted, they face decades in prison.

Platkin said the investigation shows how car thefts are often connected to additional crimes, and why law enforcement is committing to solving and preventing them. In Philadelphia, police have said stolen cars are often used to commit shootings and robberies.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel thanked all those involved for their work investigating the group, saying it keeps residents safe and honors the legacies of Mendez, who was posthumously promoted to sergeant, and other police who’ve died in the line of duty.

“The work we do matters,” he said. “These officers don’t give their lives in vain.”

The men charged with killing Mendez are scheduled to go to trial in November.