Brothers Eric and Ovidio Zamora were arraigned Wednesday at the Hidalgo County Courthouse on charges related to allegedly stealing a car with a 2-year-old child inside.
Eric, 18, and Ovidio, 24, listened, shackled and expressionless, as Justice of the Peace Jason Peña read identical charges for the brothers.
“You each have three charges, alright, so you need to pay attention,” Peña told the pair.
The Zamoras were charged with abandoning and endangering a child without intent to return, a third-degree felony, theft of property, a Class C misdemeanor, and evading arrest. The Zamoras’ bonds total $170,000.
The brothers were arrested by deputies Tuesday afternoon, according to a statement released by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday.
The sheriff’s office, according to the statement, received a call at 4:03 p.m. Tuesday from a frantic mother in San Carlos who said that her car had just been stolen with her 2-year-old son inside.
The woman had briefly left her son unattended in the vehicle as she walked across the street to pick up her other two children at a bus stop when someone got in her car and drove away with it.
Law enforcement flooded the area and located the vehicle south of Tex-Mex Road on 83rd Street within eight minutes, and was only a mile away from where the vehicle was stolen. Authorities approached the car and discovered the boy sleeping in his car seat, unharmed.
Deputies and troopers began searching the area for the suspects, described by the victim as two Hispanic males driving a white Pontiac.
The release stated that deputies working in the area recalled a report of a disturbance earlier that day which matched the suspect’s vehicle. Deputies proceeded to Colonia Muniz, east of Tower Road on Trenton Road, where they located a vehicle and suspects matching the description given by the mother.
Deputies approached the two males, who ran but were quickly apprehended, according to the report.
According to the release, sheriff’s investigators recovered video surveillance which shows the theft occurring and individuals whose appearance matches the Zamoras. Both of the men provided voluntary statements admitting to the theft, abandoning of the child and evading the deputies, the release stated.
