NOLENSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Nolensville Police Department has issued a warning after members of the South American Theft Group (SATG) allegedly broke into high-end homes and made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry.
The incident occurred on Wednesday May 22. According to investigators, the thieves wore work vests to help them conceal their identities, as usual.
Surveillance footage shows the suspects’ getaway car – believed to be a gold Honda Odyssey minivan – arriving at the scene. Then, two men came out of a home that authorities said the suspects had burglarized.
As the men walked toward the van, their reflective orange vests can be seen, as if they were in the neighborhood working or delivering packages.
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“They are well known as the South American Flight Group. They target business owners who are known for keeping hoards of cash, jewelry and designer handbags inside their homes,” explained Sgt. Josh Combs of the Nolensville Police Department.
Police say these calculating thieves select their victims carefully, often observing their routines before breaking into their homes.
In the Nolensville case, the suspects entered and found a large safe in a closet. Since they had taken cutting tools with them, the thieves allegedly opened the safe and stole more than $400,000 in cash and family jewelry.
Combs told News 2 the suspects chose this house on purpose: “Through the Internet, they are able to determine business owners, knowing that historically they don’t keep money in the bank.” They keep it inside the house, like in this case, in a safe.
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Investigators said SATG works in small cells. Members of the group come from South American countries, usually on visas, and enter states like New York and New Jersey before targeting cities like Miami and Atlanta.
A similar group reportedly struck in Brentwood more than two months ago. Video from this case shows that one of the thieves was wearing a road worker’s reflective vest, the second was dressed like an Amazon deliveryman and the third was wearing a large backpack and a black balaclava as they carried a huge safe to their getaway car.
“They use very similar practices that seem to be taught, from one group to another, and one of those practices is using disguises to enter through the rear of a residence,” he told the then Brentwood Deputy Police Chief Jim Colvin told News 2. “Sometimes they use Wi-Fi jammers to interrupt the signal in a residence so we don’t have camera footage. They use vehicles that are difficult to trace, they do not have registered license plates on the vehicles and their identity is unknown to many people.”
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“They are absolutely well organized; they do their intelligence before they go to any community in the United States so they know who they’re going to hit, they know when they should hit and what exactly they’re looking for,” Combs added.
According to Nolensville investigators, the same group that broke into the safe and stole more than $400,000 also broke into another nearby home and stole $2,500.
If you have any information on any of these thefts, you are asked to call Nolensville Police at 615-776-3640.
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