SWEETWATER COUNTY — Three California men suspected in a felony-grade theft in Uinta County were captured on I-80 by county deputies on Thursday, December 13.
Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell said Nicolas Ricardo Araya Acuna, 34, Jovanny Alain Boza Gonzalez, 31, and Giovanni Antonio Lopez Valencia, 27, all of Reseda, California are charged with Wrongful Taking /Disposing of Property.
Lowell said that around 2:16 AM on the 13th, county officers were advised that dozens of Apple iPhones had been stolen from Wal-Mart in Evanston and tracked digitally to a location on I-80 west of Green River, traveling east.
Deputies were provided with photographs of the suspects and a description of their vehicle, a small, black four-door hatchback or SUV, and set up near the Green River tunnels, where they spotted and stopped it. The suspect vehicle, a dark Audi SUV, was driven by Araya Acuna; in it were Boza Gonzalez and Lopez Valencia.
Also in it was a duffel bag containing boxes of “Apple products.” Deputies had been advised that the stolen mobile phones had an audible anti-theft feature that had been activated, and noted a “chirp” noise coming from the duffel bag.
Lowell said the three men remain in custody at the Sweetwater County Detention Center in Rock Springs, as the investigation continues.
