THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • Late Summer 2018 31 TheCoastalBend.com V olent crime sprees carried out by organized bands of mur- derous felons is not uncommon in major urban centers— and the kind of dealer-on-dealer robberies and assaults like those on Coleman Ave. and Balchuk Lane, tend to be the most brazen and cruel. Armed resistance is the expectation as is a potential big payoff of illicit narcotics, stolen fire- arms and untraceable cash—all of which are illegal contra- band that can’t be reported to police as stolen property. This is gangland street crime turned very personal, and in the case of Ausencio Acosta, Jr., it was his family connection to the Lopez’ that provided him the information and motivation he needed to plot a violent home invasion that ended in double murder. It has not been reported if 25-year-old Robert Angel Lopez, Jr., is related to Ar- turo and Miriam Lopez, but he was arrested on April 19 in connection with the crime, accused of driving a third vehicle in which he picked up the four gunmen, Olivares, Wheeler, Gosson and Castillo, after they ditched their getaway car nearby the crime scene. Adrian Olivares, the 46-year-old lifelong criminal and registered sex offender who plotted the heist with Acosta, had been booked into the Nueces County Jail April 10 on possession of controlled substance charges, before all the others, but was not charged in the Lopez murders until April 16. The April 18 arrest of Ismael Castillo in San Antonio was actually the third in the Coleman Ave. case—the first being that of Ariana Carbajal, age 26, just eight days after the murder. She is accused of driving the stolen 2001 Buick used in the crime. The second arrest was that of 36-year-old Ricardo Jose Acuna, who was being sur- veilled by Jim Wells County Sheriff’s investigators at an apartment complex in the northern part of the county. Acuna and his girlfriend were followed by police after they departed the apartment in a white SUV, the female in the driver’s seat. The couple led state troopers on a chase into Nueces County after DPS attempted a traffic stop on County Road 624 in Bluntzer. The SUV eventually came to a stop near the River Hills Country Club, where Acuna fled on foot but was quickly apprehended. While it was certainly clear to investigators that criminal activity was afoot inside the Coleman Ave. house, it was less clear concerning the Lopez home in the affluent London ISD subdivision. It is never reported by police if any of these home invasions result in what the assailants are looking for—drugs and cash—a factor that would verify if the victims were, in fact, distributing narcotics. In 2011 Arturo Lopez was arrested and charged with two counts of possession and manufacturing with the intent to deliver a controlled substance between four and 200 grams, one count of simple possession of the same volume of a controlled substance (like methamphetamines, cocaine or heroin), and money laundering. Lo- pez was represented by one of the city’s most expensive criminal defense attorneys, John Gilmore, and was sentenced to probation, which he completed successfully. While no direct connection between the murders on Coleman Ave. and in Lon- don Club Estates has been established other than a common suspect, Ismael Castillo, circumstances beg some very obvious questions about potential common threads. For example, were the Lopez’ upstream suppliers of narcotics to Mathis or others in the Coleman Ave. house? Had Castillo or any other of the assailants acted as middle men between the narcotics distributor and the street-level dealer? Of greatest worry to residents in London ISD is the mystery surrounding oth- erwise normal-acting, family-oriented neighbors who fit into the community, but whose high-paying profession is the distribution of narcotics and laundering of money for Mexican drug cartels. For the broader community, some comfort might be found in the fact that the vast majority of home invasions and murders are not ran- dom acts. Most are inside jobs that target victims who cannot go to the police, and whose losses cannot be reported and are not covered by insurance, to say the least— these are dealer-on-dealer crimes that many recognize as “part of the game.” The stark, new reality for residents of affluent neighborhoods like London Club Estates, is that big-time criminal activity and the potential for murderous violence involving firearms can operate unabridged, right under their noses. L a Palmera mall is considered one of the truly safe places in the Coastal Bend for shoppers, teens socializing, and employees. Oth- er than your occasional shoplifting case or a random simple as- sault or public intoxication incident, our regional shopping mall is typically drama-free. That peace was shattered, and employees at dozens of retailers and restaurants were rattled upon learning that one of La Palmera’s most established tenants, Aman’s Jewel- ers, was robbed in a coordinated heist a half an hour before clos- ing on the slow, spring evening of Tuesday, March 27. Located a few feet from the McArdle Rd. entrance near J. C. Penney, Aman’s was the closest high-value target to an outside entryway. Four masked men, two with long rifles and two equipped with hammers or other tools, burst into the store that was staffed by two female employees with no custom- ers present. While the armed men kept the women at bay, pointing their rifles at them and shouting verbal threats, the other two went directly to the glass cases that housed solid gold chains, smashing them and stuffing the chains into a bag. At one point in surveillance video, the bandits could be seen grabbing a box of gold chains that was so heavy it took both men to lift it. We learned from veterans of the jewelry business that thieves would rather steal solid gold that can be melted down and reformed, removing any i d e n t i f y i n g engravings or etchings, than diamonds or other precious stones that re- quire grading and authenti- cation in order to be sold—and luxury watches carry hidden, identifying markings inside their casings. Gold is also simple currency that can be easily authenticated and for which the daily value is a matter controlled by world markets. Gangsters also seem to really like gold, so it can be easily traded for drugs and guns. Although the exact take in the Aman’s robbery has not been disclosed, we have been told off-the-record that the loss was well into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Police managed to reassemble the gang of five who pulled off the La Palmera heist— two gunmen, two smash–and–grabbers, and one getaway driver, but not for nearly a month after it took place. Wheeler, Castillo, Gosson, Acosta and Lopez were charged in the robbery, all of whom were already in custody on charges related to the London Club Estates home invasion and killings. As police searched in vain for the Aman’s heist gang in March, the ragtag band of outlaws were undoubtedly emboldened by their success and set their next target much higher—the very private, but likely well armed, Lopez home, less than two weeks later. Ariana Carbajal Ricardo Acuna Aman’s Jewelers surveillance video