BY: 24/7 CRIME DESK | BocaNewsNow.com
UPDATE: 8:27 p.m. Sunday. See update below original article.
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The packed SunFest celebration in West Palm Beach was the scene of a crime overnight Saturday as at least two women allegedly targeted the crowd to steal cellphones from back pockets.
The West Palm Beach Police Department tells BocaNewsNow.com that the women are now in custody.
“Two women from Colombia are being charged with multiple counts of grand theft and resisting arrest with violence after they were caught by West Palm Beach Police Department officers with six stolen cellphones Saturday night,” said Public Information Officer Mike Jachles.
“As victims reported their phones being stolen at a concert and provided suspect descriptions, police were able to track the two women while still at the festival and were positively identified by the victims.”
According to police, six phones were recovered from the suspects, who refused to give their names or provide ID to officers. They were taken to the police department headquarters and their next stop will be the PBSO Main Detention Center.
UPDATE SUNDAY NIGHT 8:27 p.m:
There was another performance that got a standing ovation during Saturday night’s Jack Johnson concert, when the police tracked down two women who were stealing cellphones and a wallet in a crowd of concertgoers.
Around 10 p.m. May 6, while thousands were watching the concert on the Sunfest Ford Stage, two women were watching concertgoers for their cellphones. A 29-year-old woman from Boynton Beach was watching the show when the women pushed up against her and she told them to, “Get the (expletive) off me.” A few minutes elapsed before the victim realized the pair swiped her cellphone/wallet in the brush-up. She quickly alerted nearby officers who tracked the suspects heading south from the stage along Flagler Drive.
An officer walking from south to north intercepted the suspects, who both began speaking Spanish, were elusive and uncooperative, and refused to give their names or any information.
Additional victims came forth and also identified the suspects. As they were placed in handcuffs, both women resisted. When the arresting officer pulled out five cellphones stuffed into the crotch of the shorts of one of the suspects, the nearby crowd broke out in applause. The suspects are tentatively identified as Briyith Nunez, 30 (D/O/B 9/4/92), and Angelica Fernandez, 24 (D/O/B 12/19/98), with no addresses given for both.
Police have already returned the phones to the victims – the woman from Boynton Beach, a man from Orlando, and two women, from South Carolina and Maryland. A fifth victim, a 19-year-old female from Coconut Creek, had her wallet stolen from her bag at the A Boogie wit da Hoodie performance. Her property was also recovered and returned.
There was over $1,800 in cash, debit, credit and retail gift cards, Florida driver licenses and IDs, a college ID, and a personal check that were not the suspects. Evidence seized also includes a boarding pass from a flight to Miami from L.A. for Nunez, jewelry, and a receipt from a Target store in Miami from Saturday morning for the following purchases: two, $200 Visa gift cards, sunscreen, chips, coffee, candy, and apparel, totaling $460.99.
Detectives believe there are more victims of the duo, who are believed to be part of an organized ring. They are charged with five counts each of robbery by sudden snatching and one count each of resisting arrest and being held at the PBSO Main Detention Center. Anyone with information about the suspects should report the tip using the SaferWatch App, free in the Apple and Google Play stores, or at http://www.SaferWatchApp.com. If you believe you are a victim of Nunez and Fernandez from the weekend, call West Palm Beach police at 561-822-1900.
