By CATHERINE DONNELLY
Special to the PRESS
Three suspects of an alleged armed robbery were apprehended locally this week.
According to a Port Isabel Police Department (PIPD) report, on Monday, at approximately 2:24 a.m., Port Isabel Police received a 911 call from a reported victim of an alleged robbery by gunpoint. Responding to the call was PIPD Sergeant Jose Salinas who was immediately dispatched to the 1000 block of Texas State Highway 100, near Champion Avenue, according to a PIPD report.
While the victim was providing his statement to police, he reportedly spotted the car, believed to be driven by the suspects, passing through the area. Officers pursued the vehicle and conducted a stop without incident, according to PIPD Chief of Police Robert Lopez.
The three occupants of the vehicle were arrested and the more than $600 in cash, which matched the amount reportedly taken from the complainant, was recovered as evidence, according to Lopez. The weapon used in the alleged robbery has not been recovered, Lopez said.
Rey Quiroz and Adam Gritzner of Harlingen were arrested and charged with Aggravated Robbery and Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity, as was 17-year-old Edward Estrada of San Benito. All three were booked into the Cameron County Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito. They’re being held on $57,500 bail each for the combined charges.
Estrada has a recent arrest record. On November 15, 2023, the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office Special Investigations Unit, with the assistance of the Hidalgo County High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Unit and members of the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team, executed a narcotics search warrant in San Benito, according to a November 15 post on the District Attorney Luis V. Saenz’s Facebook page.
Two 17-year-old male subjects, Nicolas Mendoza and Estrada, were detained. A search of the residence allegedly yielded $8,671.00 cash, 16 ounces of marijuana, 119 THC Vape pens, a 12-gauge shotgun and a stockpile of various ammunition, according to the DA’s post.
Mendoza and Estrada were placed under arrest and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, a Second Degree Felony, and Possession of Marijuana, a State Jail Felony. They were transported to the Cameron County Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito, where they were being held pending arraignment. No further details are available regarding Estrada’s arraignment and release.
Meanwhile, Port Isabel Police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating the weapon used in the alleged robbery in Port Isabel. In Port Isabel, tips regarding this crime or any other suspicious or criminal activity can be reported to the PIPD at (956) 943-2727 or (956) 943-1242, or to Cameron County Crime Stoppers, Inc., 1225 North Expressway, Suite C1-94, Brownsville; tip line: (956) 350-5551, main line: (956) 554-6700. The website is www.cameroncountycrimestoppers.org.