Three arrested for extortion attempt in Washoe County

Washoe County Sheriff’s Office arrested three men Wednesday night after an attempt to extort $40,000 dollars from a resident living in the area of El Rancho Drive east of Sun Valley Boulevard. The arrests were the result of a successful sting operation by Sheriff’s Office detectives.

The Sheriff’s Office was initially contacted by the victim on Tuesday, February 13, 2018. At that time he reported that his residence had been burglarized in late January with several items stolen. He further reported that earlier on Tuesday his brother had located an envelope left at the front door of the residence. Inside the envelope was a letter threatening to kill the victim’s family if $40,000 in cash was not left on the residence’s front porch at 10:00 p.m. on Feb. 14.

Detectives decided to set up a sting operation. At approximately 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 14, 2018, several subjects arrived at the residence and removed an envelope that had been left there. The subjects ran when confronted by law enforcement but were all located and taken into custody by detectives.

After further investigation, detectives arrested the following three suspects:

Brian Jose Ojeda, age 21, on charges of extortion and conspiracy to commit robbery

Raul E Cruz-Bonilla, age 19, on charges of extortion, conspiracy to commit robbery with a deadly weapon, and resisting a public officer

Lorenzo Trujillo, age 20, on charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and resisting a public officer

This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to contact the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division at (775) 328-3320 or Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900.