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Raman Kumar said the Indian-Americans he had spoken with in the Northern
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Virginia region were becoming nervous as they wondered whether the three Print this Article
suspects arrested in November in connection with a long string of burglaries
targeting the South Asian community were going to be released. "They are
scared now. They are very, very scared these guys will be set free," Kumar
said.
The burglary of his Centreville home about a year ago fit the pattern for a
string of at least 26 incidents in Fairfax and Loudoun counties between January
and November of last year, and Kumar has become the unofficial spokesman
for the victims of the spree.
Each of the suspects still has one charge pending in Fairfax County, with the
collective preliminary hearing set for Feb. 24, and Soto-Ramirez and his wife
are scheduled to appear before a Loudoun County judge on March 4, each
facing the same six charges that Gray had dismissed.
"It was quite obvious that the commonwealth didn’t show they had probable
cause for the arrest and the prosecution at that point, and the court dismissed
it," defense attorney Bobby Stafford said of the hearing in Fairfax County.
Stafford is defending Soto Ramirez in both counties.
Loudoun County prosecutor Steve Sincavage said he wasn’t sure whether the
county would pursue an indictment.
Rodway confirmed that four more New York residents had been extradited to
Virginia in connection with the burglaries.
Initially, all three of the suspects arrested in November were listed as New
http://beta.connectionnewspapers.com/articleprint.asp?article=337807&paper=72&cat=104 2/18/2010
Springfield Connection - The Connection Newspapers Page 2 of 2
York residents, but Gray has since been listed as a resident of Hurst, Texas by
the Loudoun courts, and Fairfax now considers him an Arlington resident.
The string of burglaries involved the theft of high-karat gold jewelry that South
Asians traditionally keep in their homes, as well as electronics, passports and
other valuables and documents. More than half of the incidents took place in
the Fair Oaks Police District, but they spread through Oak Hill, Reston, South
Riding, Lorton and McLean.
POLICE said the November arrest was based on "burglarious materials" in the
vehicle the suspects were driving.
He said he hoped for a grand jury indictment. "If that’s not going to happen,
we have to be a lot more proactive and take care of each other and look out
for each other’s houses." Dismissing the cases, he said, could embolden others
to commit similar crimes in the area.
Hugo proposed that precious metal dealers should face a mandatory two-year
revocation of their licenses if convicted a second time. The bill became law on
Thursday, Feb. 11.
http://beta.connectionnewspapers.com/articleprint.asp?article=337807&paper=72&cat=104 2/18/2010