Six accused in armed home robberies targeting Indians in US

New York, April 2

Six people, including three women, part of an armed robbery gang, have been charged with carrying out robberies and assaulting at gunpoint targeting homes of Indian and Asian-origin people in Michigan and Texas.

Chaka LeChar Castro, 40, Juan Olaya ,35, Octavius Scott, 22, Jakeyra Augustus 21, Rodney Granger, 19, and Johnisha Williams, 19, of Houston were charged yesterday in connection with the robberies and are currently in custody.

According to the indictment, the defendants committed four armed home invasion robberies in the greater Ann Arbor area in Michigan over the Thanksgiving weekend in November 2014, as well as additional armed robberies in the greater Dallas area in early December 2014.

The crews allegedly used a similar modus operandi in each of the robberies.

According to the indictment, they typically used female decoys to knock on the victims' doors and gain entry, or they merely forced entry themselves.

Once inside, members of the robbery crew -- disguised in bandanas and masks -- allegedly brandished firearms to gain control of their victims, including children and then forced them at gunpoint into a single room of the home.

Some members of the crew were allegedly assigned to bind the victims with duct tape and control them.

At the same time, other members of the crew allegedly ransacked the homes in search of cash, jewelry and electronics.

According to allegations in the indictment, Castro was the leader of the enterprise and coordinated with Olaya to generate lists of robbery targets by conducting research on the Internet, among other methods, to identify families of Asian and Indian origin.

Castro then assigned crews to carry out the armed robberies of these targeted families.

"The armed robberies allegedly committed by this organised criminal group were horrific home invasions that spread fear through Asian and Indian communities across multiple states," Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said.

"This indictment is the first step in holding responsible those accused of carrying out armed robberies that were both life threatening and ethnically targeted," he said.

The group was also responsible for targeting Indian-origin families in the New Jersey area.

Indian families are known to keep cash and gold jewellery at their homes, particularly during the festive season of Diwali.

Castro and her accomplices have already been charged in connection with the New Jersey robberies, which occurred between October 20 and November 30 last year and were carried out in Old Bridge, Edison and South Plainfield in New Jersey.

The incidents of robbery, in which the families were restrained, robbed at gunpoint and assaulted, had sparked fear among the Indian-American community in New Jersey. PTI