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A U.S. Marine was arrested in Texas on Thursday after authorities said he stole hundreds of pieces of jewelry worth more than $500,000 in two separate heists.
Marcelo Majeed Hernandez, 18, was identified as a suspect in the two robberies that occurred in Houston at David Yurman Jewelry on Oct. 13, 2023, and at Helzberg Diamond on April 5, Harris County Sheriff’s Precinct 4 said. .
In the first robbery, officers discovered that a masked suspect had smashed through the front door with a sledgehammer, smashed display cases, and stolen more than 200 pieces of jewelry valued at more than $380,000.
During the second robbery, more than $170,000 worth of jewelry was stolen.
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The agent said Hernandez had been identified after a “very thorough investigation.” Officers located him on Thursday, less than a week after the last robbery, and detained him.
During his arrest, officers found three guns, $11,000 in cash and $500,000 in jewelry, including diamonds, in his car, a Mercedes-Benz GLA, FOX26 Houston reported.
The car had stolen plates and was captured on surveillance video during the robberies, Officer Mark Herman told the station. Detectives tracked the vehicle to Hernandez.
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Most of the stolen jewelry has been recovered, according to the agent, and agents are working to locate the last pieces.
When investigators detained Hernandez, his dog tags fell off and he told agents he was in the U.S. military, Herman told FOX26 Houston.
“He actually recently finished his Marine Corps boot camp about a week before one of our cases,” Agent Mark Herman told the station.
Herman said Hernandez appears to still live with his parents in the Cypress neighborhood near where the robberies occurred.
Hernandez was charged with two counts of first-degree felony robbery. Online records show he is in custody with bail set at $500,000.
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