Serial burglary suspect caught trying to cross border

HOUSTON Jose Carlo Tua, 36, was arrested by border patrol in Brownsville last week. He is being held on a charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon at a federal detention facility in Port Isabel.

A Crime Stoppers tip helped investigators identify Tua as one of five suspects wanted in connection to six armed robberies, home invasions and burglaries that have occurred at several west side neighborhoods since fall 2009, police said.

The group of men, who police have dubbed "The Cleanup Crew," targeted homes with security safes in them.

Surveillance photos caught the suspects unmasked at the latest home invasion on June 30 in southwest Houston, where they tied up a maid who was working at the residence. It wasn't immediately clear whether the release of those photos led someone to phone in the information about Tua to Crime Stoopers.

Police still are trying to find the four other suspects.

If you have any information about these crimes, you are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.