A “violent” Tren de Aragua gangbanger broke down in hysterics after he and his buddies were busted for robbing a Florida liquor store, cops said.
Ramon Jesus Carpintero-Luna, 26, sobbed like a baby to investigators with his hands cuffed behind his back upon realizing his alleged life of crime had finally caught up with him, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
The illegal Venezuelan immigrant even dropped to his hands and knees and pleaded for his freedom when cops came knocking.
“He’s not such a big bad guy when he’s locked up. Maybe he’s having visions of El Salvador prisons at some point in time in this future,” Sheriff Grady Judd seethed at a press conference, while proudly displaying the photo of Carpintero-Luna with tears streaming down his face.
Carpintero-Luna was allegedly part of a four-person gang that had been pillaging more than three dozen liquor stores across central Florida — a violent scheme that raked in upwards of $30,000.
Samuel Oglis David Anthony Charle, 25, and Alexis Jose Rodriguez-Benavides, 27, are known Tren De Argua gang members, while Carpintero-Luna, Ildemaro Miguel Escalona Mendoza, 26, and Darwins Smith Vasquez Leon, 28, are considered associates, cops said.
All five illegally crossed the border and descended into a life of crime, making no pretense at finding honest work, according to Judd.
In early March, the group allegedly stormed a Sam’s Club in north Lakeland and stocked a shopping cart with 14 cases of liquor valued at $3,200 and made straight for the exit.
They rammed the cart into an employee who tried to stop them, before grabbing two cases of liquor and escaping into a silver Ford Focus, cops alleged.
The crew of alleged thugs didn’t make it far — their truck became disabled when they tried to drive it over a concrete curb in the parking lot.
The quintet ditched the car and ordered an Uber, affording themselves just a few more days of freedom.
Samuel Charle and Escalona Mendoza were arrested in nearby Osceola County for a different robbery, while the other three were cuffed April 17 after Polk officials obtained arrest warrants.
Because they are all illegal immigrants, they have been placed in ICE detainers.
They all face first-degree felony charges of robbery due to their gang status, though Judd expects additional charges to come later.
The suspects have criminal histories including immigration violations, thefts, robbery, drug possession, resisting arrest, fraudulent use of and possession of personal identification, false reports to law enforcement, robbery with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence (listed as armed and dangerous), and driver’s license offenses, cops said.
Polk is pushing for the crew to be deported, a just punishment for the alleged gangbangers, he said referring to the picture of a tearful Carpintero-Luna.
“Life as he knew it is over. Is he crying because we can’t steal from Americans anymore? Is he crying because he can’t rob people in the middle of the night anymore? Is he crying because he can’t rip off high-end liquor? This is the end of the road for him and his companions,” Polk said.