Harris County Pct. 5 deputy named in 'high-dollar' auto theft ring; accused of helping thieves on the job
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - A now former Harris County Precinct 5 deputy is accused of helping four suspects steal multiple "high-dollar" vehicles, according to court records.
A search warrant application in an auto-theft ring investigation says the deputy is being investigated for abuse of official capacity, theft by a public servant, and engaging in criminal activity.
The deputy is not officially charged, so we are not reporting his name at this time. We will update this story once charges are officially filed.
The records allege he was working with four additional suspects; Ramon Gallegos, 26, Angel Rodriguez, 21, Ramiro Cerda, 27, and Ronald Romero, 20.
All four are charged with theft and engaging in organized criminal activity in a June auto-theft, but are linked to at least three more, according to court documents.
"The defendant and co-defendants participated in thefts of multiple high-dollar vehicles valued anywhere from $70,000 to $90,000 between April 2024 to June 2024," said the Harris County prosecutor in Gallegos' probable cause hearing.
The records that mention the former deputy allege that he would text back and forth with Rodriguez about what vehicles to steal. The records say he ran the license plates of a stolen vehicle through exclusive law-enforcement systems.
Investigators in the documents say the deputy sent a text saying, "It's all clear." Investigators in the documents say they believe the deputy was alerting the suspects about whether law enforcement was looking for the car.
The documents also allege that the deputy would monitor radios to alert the thieves of law enforcement activity.
Precinct 5 confirms the deputy worked for them, but says he was fired two and a half weeks ago for "wrongdoing" at the department. They did not expand on the specifics.