HOUSTON — A major arrest was made in a Pennsylvania suburb over the weekend and it could be a big break in a spree of home burglaries KHOU 11 News has been reporting since December.
Criminals posing as tree trimmers to lure their way into your home have cost Houston area homeowners hundreds of thousands of dollars.
On Jan. 13, Penn Township Police arrested three men, but it's 27-year-old Bobby Lucci who investigators believe may be connected to burglaries in Houston and across the country.
"Bobby Lucci appears to be the ring leader of this group," Penn Township Police Chief John Otto said.
Otto broke down how they got Lucci into custody. Lucci, along with Marcello Miguel and Anthony Miguel, triggered an alarm at Hamill Manufacturing in the middle of a metal heist in a suburb outside Pittsburgh.
"Now that they know the alarm has been triggered, they phone in the fake 911 call to divert resources," Otto said.
The ruse didn't work. When officers got there, they found the men in a truck with more than $120,000 in stolen metal.
"They ID'd themselves as 'Romanian gypsies,'" Otto said. "They provided no information. They would not talk to us."
Officers were able to use technology to analyze their fingerprints and their eyes and they got a match.
"In came arrest warrants, in came criminal histories from across the U.S.," Otto said. "At that time, we knew we had something significant. This wasn't just local scrappers looking for a heavy payday."
Otto said that since the arrest, agencies across the country reached out.
"We have received phone calls about Bobby and the individuals with him from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Houston, Texas, Dallas, Texas, the FBI, NCIS, and potentially Kansas," Otto said.
Sources confirm Lucci may be the man seen on surveillance cameras walking into Keli Rabon's home last December as part of an elaborate tree-trimming scam.
"Once I saw the mugshot, I knew that was the guy," Rabon said.
The same man was seen on multiple videos while targeting multiple homes across Texas.
"I won't be able to breathe a sight of relief until I know he's locked up for good," Rabon said.
Court records show Lucci has been denied bond.
"For us to take these three people off the street that have been so successful in committing crimes and staying on the run despite the fact of having extensive criminal histories, you go to sleep with a smile on your face," Otto said.
It's a big step, Rabon told KHOU 11 News. But the other half of the scamming duo, the man with the bucket hat, is still out there.
"The second guy won't stop until he's stopped," Rabon said. "Nothing will ever make up for what was lost or what we experienced as a family being victimized by these guys, but finding justice will definitely help."
Lucci was arrested for the same type of crime in 2021 in California. He was given a bond and then disappeared.
He now remains locked up and is due back in court in Pennsylvania next month.