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ST. GEORGE — Two men of Romanian descent who are either currently in custody in another state or have already been deported, are now facing charges in connection with a robbery in southern Utah in 2022.
Ionut Stoican, 35, and Salvatore Stoican, 23, who is listed in court documents as being from Garden Grove, California, were each charged Wednesday in 5th District Court with theft, a second-degree felony; and burglary and criminal conspiracy, third-degree felonies.
On Dec. 11, 2022, two women distracted the manager of the 3 Amigos Market in St. George and lured him away from the booth he was working in, according to charging documents.
"While the manager was away from the booth, a male individual broke into the booth by using a tool to open the locked door and stole cash from inside. A fourth male was also involved in the theft and acted as a lookout for the suspect inside the booth," the charges state.
Approximately $47,000 was taken.
In May, St. George police gave the case a fresh look. They submitted images taken from surveillance video of the burglary and put it into a database for other local, state and federal officers from around the country to look at, according to the charges.
"I received information from investigators with the South Carolina State Police, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and Utah Statewide Information Analysis Center who all identified the two male suspects as Salvatore Stoican and Ionut Stoican," an officer wrote in the charges.
Investigators say the men are of Romanian origin and are believed to be part of a group known "throughout the law enforcement community as Romanian organized crime members," the charges state.
The men were arrested in Des Moines, Iowa, in June 2023 for an incident similar to the St. George case.
"The two males, along with four other individuals entered a Mexican grocery store and worked together to distract the employees in the store. While this was going on, one of the members in the group stole cash from beneath the register and they exited the store. In that case, they stole $70,000," according to the charges.
Court documents state that Salvatore Stoican was deported from the United States in October 2023 while Ionut Stoican is currently in federal custody in Georgia.
