A US Marine was arrested in Texas on Thursday after authorities say he stole hundreds of pieces of jewelry worth over $500,000 in two separate heists.
Marcelo Majeed Hernandez, 18, was identified as a suspect in the two heists that occurred in Houston at David Yurman Jewelry on October 13, 2023, and at Helzberg Diamond on April 5, Harris County Constable Precinct 4 said.
In the first burglary, deputies discovered that a masked suspect had smashed through the front door with a sledgehammer, smashed display cases and stolen over 200 pieces of jewelry valued at over $380,000.
During the second burglary, over $170,000 dollars worth of jewelry was stolen.
The constable said that Hernandez had been identified after a “very thorough investigation.”
Deputies located him on Thursday, less than a week after the latest heist, and took him into custody.
During his arrest, deputies found three handguns, $11,000 in cash, and $500,000 worth of jewelry, which included diamonds, in his car, a Mercedes-Benz GLA, reported.
The car had stolen license plates and was captured on surveillance video during the burglaries, Constable Mark Herman told the station. Detectives traced the vehicle to Hernandez.
Most of the stolen jewelry has been recovered, according to the constable, and deputies are working to locate the last few pieces.
As investigators took Hernandez into custody, his dog tags fell out, and he told deputies that he was in the US military, Herman told FOX26 Houston.
“Actually, he just recently finished his boot camp in the Marine Corps about a week before one of our cases,” Constable Mark Herman told the station.
The US Marine Corps (USMC) told Fox News Digital in a statement that it was aware of the allegations against Hernandez and was in contact with local authorities.
Hernandez, a private first class reserve Marine with 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment in Houston, was not in a “drilling status” at the time when the alleged crimes occurred, the USMC said.
“The Marine Corps does not condone the type of behavior alleged in the incident,” the USMC said.
Herman said that Hernandez appears to still live with his parents in the Cypress neighborhood near where the heists took place.
Hernandez was charged with two counts of first-degree felony theft. Online records show that he is in custody with a bond amount set at $500,000.