POLK COUNTY, Fla. – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested five men for organized theft crimes that they say also had ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren De Argua and were in the country illegally, according to the sheriff.
The sheriff’s office said Alexis Jose Rodriguez-Benavides, 27; Darwins Smith Vasquez-Leon, 28; Ildemaro Miguel Escalona Mendoza, 26; Ramon Jesus Carpintero-Luna, 26; and Samuel Oglis David Anthony Charle, 25, are all accused of trying to steal about $3,200 in liquor from a Sam’s Club store in north Lakeland last month.
Deputies say the men tried to leave the store with 14 cases of liquor without paying, and when an employee tried to stop them, they rammed the cart into her. Then they grabbed two of the cases and fled…