Eight Arrested in Cedar City After Stolen Home Depot Merchandise Found at Rural Property

Cedar City police searching a rural property near 1100 South and 6300 West found what they described as "an extremely large quantity of stolen merchandise from Home Depot, most of it still in its original packaging," triggering a series of arrests that stretched across two weeks and ultimately netted eight suspects on felony charges.

The first five arrests came March 6 after officers executed a search warrant at the property. Inside bedrooms, trailers, and parked cars, investigators recovered stolen merchandise estimated by one outlet at more than $47,000 in total value. Police also found a safe containing a large amount of cash and a small amount of suspected methamphetamine, along with two firearms. Franklin Fernando Garcia-Diaz, 39, was among those taken into custody that day; he admitted during an interview that some of the items found in the trailer were stolen. The other four arrested March 6 were Marco Antonio Rivera-Hernandez, 24; Rey Alexander Santos, 23; Nehemias Josue Zapet-Maldonado, 27; and Sindy Cabrera, 33. All five face second-degree felony theft charges.

Four days later, on March 10, Cedar City police arrested the man identified in court documents as the company owner whose employees allegedly carried out the thefts: Edgardo Duque, 43, and his wife, Yojana Ester Garcia Rojop, 31. Both were arrested on suspicion of felony theft and felony prohibited dangerous weapon conduct, the charges tied to the firearms recovered during the search. On March 12, their son Andy Josue Gargia Rojop voluntarily went to the Cedar City Police Station with his lawyer. According to court documents, he told investigators the controlled substances found in his parents' safe were his, and acknowledged he had been present with his father's employees on two occasions when they placed items into a cart and walked out of the store without paying.

The investigation had started weeks earlier. According to a police affidavit, the thefts began at the start of February, with suspects seen at least seven times leaving the Cedar City Home Depot without paying, in incidents where individual hauls ranged from $45 to $1,741.89. Police say the typical method was straightforward: walk out without paying, sometimes showing a fake receipt or having one person distract the employee checking receipts at the door. Cedar City police traced a suspect vehicle's license plate to the rural property, connecting the thefts to a location where, according to one suspect's statement, stolen merchandise was stored in individual bedrooms or in a shared storage closet accessible through their "boss."

One of the initial five arrestees told police he worked for a company in which "multiple employees are involved in retail thefts on a regular basis." Court documents identified those employees as working for a business whose owner, Duque, lived at the property with his wife and son.

Two different dollar figures appear across local reporting: one outlet placed the total value of recovered merchandise at more than $47,000, while others cited a figure of over $5,000, the threshold that triggers a second-degree felony classification under Utah law. The articles did not reconcile the discrepancy, and the exact inventory recovered has not been publicly released.

All eight suspects remained held without bail in Iron County Jail as of the latest reporting. Court documents allege that Duque, his wife, his son, and the other co-defendants are not legal residents of the United States, and each of the eight has an immigration retainer on file. The five initial arrestees have made their first appearances in Cedar City's 5th District Court.

Home Depot said it is "aware of the situation and are cooperating fully with local law enforcement," declining further comment while the investigation remains open.