Brandon Twp.- Three men were to be arraigned on charges Thursday after holding two victims at gunpoint in a township home while emptying the residence of valuables including guns, televisions, computers, gaming systems, phones and more.
Rafael Angel Cordero, 19, of Pontiac, Darius Leon Jarman, 19, of Pontiac, and Eddie Ruben Almodovar, 22, of Waterford, were each to be charged with two counts of armed robbery, a felony punishable by life in prison; three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, a two year felony; and one count of receiving and concealing stolen firearms, a 10-year felony.
Police say Cordero is a member of the New World Order, which, according to the FBI, is a multi-racial street gang operating in the Pontiac area and which has been involved in numerous crimes including armed robbery, assault, attempted murder and murder. Additionally, NWO operates a large scale narcotics distribution network.
‘We live in sleepy little Ortonville and no one thinks there is any gang activity up here,? said Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Pete Burkett, commander of the Brandon substation. ‘We have not seen gangs here in the schools or at all.?
That changed around 10 a.m. Sept. 3, when a 9-1-1 call originated from a home in the 900 block of E. Glass Road near Sally Z Court, with the caller reporting an armed robbery had just occurred there, with three suspects fleeing in a purple Impala.
According to police reports, a 20-year-old male resident of the home said he received a phone call from Cordero, whom he knows, saying he wanted to stop by for a visit. As the resident spoke with the Cordero on the phone, Cordero drove up in the Impala. The resident walked out the back door to meet with Cordero and could not see the car in the driveway from his location. They then walked into the house and the resident suspected something was amiss because Cordero was just making small talk and wouldn’t make eye contact as he looked around the house.
He then asked the resident to come outside and meet his friends, who then returned with Cordero, who walked past the resident into the house, telling him to come look at marijuana. Cordero sat down as Jarman allegedly pulled an automatic handgun from the waist of his pants and pointed it at the resident and instructed him to lie face down on the kitchen floor. Cordero then went to get the resident’s girlfriend from a bedroom where she was sleeping.
The resident’s girlfriend told police after the suspect identified as Cordero told her to get up and come out, he walked out and then walked back in and pointed a handgun at her, ordering her into the kitchen area where they then demanded she lay face down on the floor next to her boyfriend.
She told deputies she thought was going to die and was praying to God to save her. Both victims watched as the suspects went into bedrooms and placed valuables and guns into bags, yelling at each other to hurry. They left the house after being in it approximately 10-15 minutes total.
An OCSO Independence Township patrol unit spotted the responsible vehicle as it was pulling onto southbound I-75 from the M-15 ramp. A felony traffic stop was effected, which, Burkett explained, involved about 10 patrol units, some of which blocked three southbound lanes of I-75, as other deputies with firearms raised from a distance, ordered the driver to throw the keys out the window and then each suspect was ordered to step out of the car with hands raised.
The suspects were taken into custody and transported to the Brandon substation for interviews, where confessions from all three were obtained. Confiscated from the suspects? vehicle were five long guns, including an AR-15 with a 30-round loaded magazine. Also recovered were multiple electronic devices.
Cordero has a valid personal protection order against him for stalking, as well as a criminal bench warrant for probation violation, on an original charge of assaulting a police officer and resisting and obstructing arrest.