Morelia V. Ayala Garcia makes her first appearance Friday in Lewis County Superior Court on suspicion of burglary and malicious mischief.
Alexis Cardenas makes his first appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on suspicion of multiple counts of burglary and malicious mischief last February.
Two suspects were charged Friday in Lewis County Superior Court with what prosecutors have called an organized and sophisticated spree of burglaries from fast-food establishments from Pierce County to the Oregon border.
Alexis Cardenas, 26, of Black Diamond, was charged with three counts of second-degree burglary and three counts of first-degree malicious mischief.
Morelia V. Ayala Garcia, 19, of Centralia, was charged with one count of second-degree burglary and one count of first-degree malicious mischief.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead asked Friday for $300,000 bail, citing the nature of the charges. He also noted that Cardenas posted $20,000 bail in Thurston County earlier this week on similar charges in that jurisdiction. Cardenas has several previous convictions on burglary charges, he added.
“He’ll do anything to get out of custody,” Halstead said.
Superior Court Judge Joely O’Rourke imposed the $300,000 on Cardenas and $25,000 on Ayala Garcia.
Cardenas is accused in several burglaries from Lewis County in 2015, Halstead told the court both on Friday and Thursday, when the suspects briefly appeared when the prosecutor’s office requested to hold them for one more day before charges were filed.
On April 14, 2015, the Centralia Arby’s was burglarized, Halstead said. Suspects used a grinding wheel to open a safe and took $3,000.
At the time, investigators had no leads on a suspect. However, after further investigation, they learned of a rash of similar burglaries up and down the Interstate 5 corridor from Pierce County to the Oregon border with similar circumstances.
About a month after the first burglary, in May 2015, a burglary was reported at Centralia’s McDonald’s. This time, no cutting tools were used. Instead, the safe was opened using a code. The suspects got away with $5,700.
“That’s where Miss Garcia comes along,” Halstead said.
Garcia worked at the restaurant at that time, he said.
“The issue here is she assisted in quite a sophisticated burglary.”
Cardenas was in police custody at the time, but Halstead said that doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved.
“The state’s theory of the case is he directed … a part of that burglary,” he said.
Halstead also said the state believes the money stolen from McDonald's was used to bail him out of the Lewis County Jail on that occasion.
Then on June 13, 2015, another burglary was reported, this time at Wendy’s in Centralia. This time, the suspects again used a metal grinder to forcibly open the safe and steal the cash inside.
The suspects in this instance left behind the grinding wheel. Detectives were able to track down video of Cardenas buying the wheel in Chehalis before the burglary, Halstead said.
The state has four other suspects at this time — one man who has yet to be charged and three as-yet unidentified suspects listed as John Does in court documents.
“As the court can imagine, this case is huge,” Halstead said.
On Thursday, Halstead said the Prosecutor’s Office is considering charging Cardenas with leading organized crime in the future.
