Two men were arrested this week following a series of armed robberies believed to span roughly eight incidents across Liberty and Montgomery counties, according to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office.
Capt. David Meyers, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said the suspects are accused of robbing two women at knifepoint in the Colony Ridge community south of Plum Grove.
“Deputies were dispatched to two separate robberies of an individual, in which the assailants pulled up next to an individual and proceeded to rob them,” Meyers said.
The first robbery occurred Tuesday, Jan. 20, near El Faro Supermarket in the 1400 block of County Road 3549. A short time later, a second robbery was reported outside a Dollar General store in the Colony Ridge community.
“Both plaintiffs reported the same suspect information — two young Hispanic males — and the same vehicle — a white SUV-type vehicle. Then they fled the area in an unknown direction of travel after each robbery,” Meyers said.
Later that day, investigators learned the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office had also received aggravated robbery reports involving suspects and a vehicle matching the same description. Authorities believe the two suspects may be connected to approximately eight armed robberies across Liberty and Montgomery counties.
On Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 21, Liberty County Sheriff’s Office dispatch received a call from Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office dispatch regarding armed robberies that had occurred in the U.S. 59–Grand Parkway area.
“While they are on the phone together, it was determined that the suspects’ vehicle was in the U.S. 59–Grand Parkway area,” Meyers said. “Several of our narcotics units, along with investigators, went to the area in an attempt to locate the vehicle. In the interim, we were notified that an armed robbery had just occurred in the city of Humble, Texas.”
During the investigation, authorities identified the license plate of the suspect vehicle, which was registered to a resident of the Colony Ridge area. LCSO investigators then went to the suspect’s house in Colony Ridge.
“Our narcotics units observed the suspect vehicle and initiated a traffic stop,” Meyers said. “Only the driver was inside when we pulled over the vehicle. It was unknown where he dropped off the second suspect or why they had separated.”
The driver, identified as Fernando Zuniga, 19, of Colony Ridge, was taken into custody and booked into the Liberty County Jail. The following day, investigators identified and arrested the second suspect, Jorge Rojas, 18, also from the Cleveland area.
“A search warrant was obtained for the vehicle and was executed Friday morning, Jan. 23,” Meyers said. “There was plenty of evidence in the vehicle that connects these two suspects, as well as the vehicle, to the robberies in Montgomery County, Liberty County and Humble.”
This marked the second collaboration between the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in the past two weeks that resulted in alleged criminals being arrested through a joint investigation.
Meyers credited cooperation between agencies for the arrests.
“It was a team effort between Liberty and Montgomery counties to capture these two individuals,” he said. “It was awesome work, in my opinion, by both dispatchers, too.”