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Two men accused of a crime spree are now in jail. The so-called "bearded bandits" were roommates, and a neighbor is surprised to learn the two are accused of a crime spree that lasted four months.
The FBI, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County authorities arrested 39-year-old Kenneth Sandoval and 31-year-old John Pacheco this weekend, shortly after a robbery at a magazine store. Agents and police tracked the men to a home in Murray, where the suspects surrendered peacefully. Officers say they found a gun in the home.
Police say the men are suspects in 14 other robberies, and one attempted robbery throughout the Salt Lake Valley.
A neighbor describes Pacheco as quiet and Sandoval as friendly. The men told him they were brothers, but the relationship has not been confirmed. He says Sandoval mentioned to him that the economy had hit him hard.
"I remember talking to him and he was in construction. He just said his work was real slow," the neighbor said.
Investigators say one man would rob the business wearing a fake beard while his accomplice waited in a getaway car, which often was a stolen vehicle. In some cases, the robber was caught on tape. Sgt. Robin Snyder of the Salt Lake City Police Department said, "In every one of these robberies, they used a gun to intimidate or threaten an employee to give them money."
"It's quite a relief for the police to be able to take somebody off the street who is using a gun to commit robberies," she said.
The most recent robbery was at a magazine store in Murray. Before that, the two robbers were caught on tape at Bob's Magazine in Salt Lake on Jan. 2, at a Key Bank in South Jordan on Dec. 16, at the U.S. Bank in Holladay on the same day, and at a Beehive Credit Union, Dec. 4, on Foothill Drive, to name just a few.
"They would steal the vehicle, go and commit the armed robbery and then take the vehicle and discard that somewhere close to the robbery. Go and steal another and commit another robbery," Snyder said.
Authorities say it took a lot of working together to track down the bearded bandits.
Juan Becerra, with the FBI, said, "This was good, old-fashioned hard work and police work, combined efforts came together to make this successful."
Authorities recovered a lot of evidence, including a handgun from the home. The FBI tells us a federal criminal complaint could be filed as early as tomorrow.
Sandoval and Pacheco are suspected in robberies and attempted robberies at:
Washington Federal CU (attempt)
2262 S. Highland Dr.
Sept. 16, 2008
SLCPD
Wells Fargo Bank
4740 S. 900 E.
Sept. 16, 2008
Murray PD
US Bank
4235 S. Redwood Rd.
Nov. 4, 2008
Taylorsville PD
US Bank
1998 E. 4800 S.
Nov. 28, 2008
S.L. County Sheriff
Beehive Credit Union
2072 S. 2200 E.
Dec. 4, 2008
SLCPD
Zions Bank
870 N. Hwy 89
Dec. 9, 2008
North Salt Lake PD
Key Bank
11422 S. 3800 W.
Dec. 16, 2008
South Jordan PD
US Bank (attempt)
1375 S. Foothill Dr.
Dec. 16, 2008
SLCPD
Chase Bank
1285 S. 2100 E.
Dec. 19, 2008
SLCPD
Bob's Magazine
1207 S. State St.
Jan. 2, 2009
SLCPD
Henries Dry Cleaners
218 W. 300 S.
Jan. 6, 2009
SLCPD
Key Bank
4025 S. Wasatch Blvd.
Jan. 8, 2009
S.L. County Sheriff
Sam's Magazine
4901 S. State St.
Jan. 17, 2009
Murray PD
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
