ECSO:3 crime ring suspects arrested; Gun discovered from previous burglary

LANCASTER – The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office received a suspicious call on Wednesday, Oct. 20 leading to three arrests in Lancaster.

According to the ECSO, the call led to a search warrant executed by deputies.

The deputies were then notified of a suspicious vehicle on Reindeer Road, near Red Oak, and later located near the Ellis/Dallas County line.

A search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of a semi-automatic pistol taken from a burglary offense on Pratt Road back on Tuesday, Oct. 19.

From information gathered during the stop, deputies were able to secure a search warrant for a residence in Lancaster, leading to the recovery of several stolen property items from burglaries in both Ellis and Dallas counties.

Arraigned on charges of organized criminal activity and burglary of a habitation charges were Ulises Rodriguez, 19, Cosme Espinoza Jr., 19, and Robert Altamira, 20, all from Lancaster.

Bonds totaling $150,000 were set on each suspect by Justice of the Peace Bill Woody, Precinct 1.

In a news release sent to local media outlets, Sheriff Johnny Brown stated he would like to thank the Lancaster Police Department for their assistance with the investigation, and noted the cooperative effort between law enforcement agencies from Ellis and Dallas Counties to combat residential burglaries in the area.