By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HEBRON - Four south Florida men remained behind bars Monday evening after being charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar computer equipment heist near Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

"Very rarely do we catch people red-handed," said Maj. Jack Banks, spokesman for the Boone County Sheriff's Department. "I don't recall us ever catching people in a burglary of this size."

After commenting on the magnitude of the Sunday burglary, Boone District Judge Michael Collins increased bond for each of the four from $100,000 to $250,000 cash during their arraignment on Monday afternoon.

Luis Alonso, 50; Luis Bedia, 40; Jose Alberto Moya, 28; and Rafael Gomez, 25, are each charged with third-degree burglary and theft by unlawful taking. The felony charges are punishable by one to five years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.

Detectives said the suspects, who do not speak fluent English, are not cooperating with authorities. Banks said the men are believed to live in south Florida, but he did not have exact addresses.

It was about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when an undercover team of deputies and FBI agents, who had been working together in response to a rash of recent burglaries, came across suspicious activity at the Pomeroy IT Solutions business on Petersburg Road in Hebron.

Two men were arrested at the warehouse, a deputy arrested a third man nearby on Interstate 275, and the department's canine team captured the fourth man.

The men already had filled about a third of an unhitched tractor-trailer with laptop computers and other equipment valued at about $2 million when detectives stormed the large warehouse, Banks said.

The truck cab and driver were not located by police.

Deputies said they are investigating whether the men have any connection to a burglary at the same warehouse eight months ago. More than $1 million worth of computer equipment was taken during that heist.

Banks said detectives do not believe the four arrested Sunday are connected to five home burglaries in Boone County over a two-week period.

Officials with Hebron-based Pomeroy declined to comment on the burglary. The technology company, founded 22 years ago in Cincinnati, employs 1,400 people with 26 locations in 13 states.

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E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com