Police say a rash of credit card and electronics thefts from home and cars in Fairfax County have been tracked to three young Herndon residents.
Ezekiel Pajibo, 25, his sister Marion Pajibo, 18, and Nicholas McCloud, 22, are facing nearly 20 charges of burglary, grand larceny and credit card theft.
A search warrant affidavit obtained by News4 shows Fairfax County Police began to investigate the crimes in September when three suspects took a garage door opener out of an unlocked car and gained access to a Herndon home.
The stolen credit cards were later used at a nearby Walmart and Target. An iPad stolen from the home was also briefly pinged by the owner and traced to a McNair Farms Apartment Complex.
Over the next two months, the pattern repeated at other homes, while Fairfax County Police worked with store security personnel to get a fix on who the suspects might be.
They also discovered a Ford Edge with North Carolina license plates was seen in the parking lot of many of the stores where the suspects would attempt to use stolen credit cards to buy goods or large value gift cards.
According to the search warrant, a break came Nov. 14 when police used a license plate reader system to trace the Edge to a McNair Farms apartment. Police watched as McCloud got into the SUV and drove away.
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Court documents say the next development came Nov. 22, police spotted the Edge in a shopping center parking lot and smelled marijuana. They confronted the two men inside -- McCloud and Ezekiel Pajibo. Pajibo provided an address that matched up with the iPad ping from the first burglary in September.
Court documents said Pajibo also has a history of similar crimes. The three suspects were arrested last Tuesday.
"I don't even know what to say because the investigation's still going," said the Pajibos' mother. "I'm just too angry and confused right now. I don't have much to say."
But she did say her daughter is no longer in the Fairfax County adult detention center because she just gave birth to her first child. She said Marion was released on her own recognizance after her arrest Tuesday. Her baby was delivered two days later.
