The residential neighborhood of Pombal in Mendoza, on the border between Ciudad and Godoy Cruz, has been revolted by the number of journalists consulting on their famous shoplifting neighbor in the Dolphin Mall in Miami: hairdresser Diego Chicato (46 years old), one of the five friends who were arrested and accused of shoplifting in stores of different brands.
The other defendants are: Mauricio Ariel Aparo (49); Sebastian Luis Moya (41); Juan Manuel Zuloaga (49 years old) and Juan Pablo Rua (45 years old), all returned to Mendoza, arriving Thursday morning on a flight from Miami to Santiago de Chile, and in a private truck they crossed the Cristo Redentor Pass towards Mendoza.
The US Department of Justice accuses them of theft and orchestrating a plan to defraud various locations in the popular mall, based on evidence from security cameras and surveillance of Mendoza’s group of friends by security personnel.
“We don’t know when Diego will come again, after the huge uproar the case has received,” admits a hairdresser who shares the salon with Chicato, on the corner of Repubblica del Lebanon and Yrigoyen, in the heart of the Pombal neighbourhood.
Neighbors look out their windows when they see the number of cameras and reporters on duty. The hairdresser continued to serve, however Behind closed doors. Only customers enter, most of whom are women. Some clients ask to use the back door to enter and exit the hair salon so as not to be exposed to cameras.
One neighbor, who declined to give her name, said: “Diego has been working here for more than 25 years, and he is known throughout the neighborhood, and we are very surprised.”
A similar situation of confusion exists at the alignment and balancing shop Monza Suspensiones, at 1493 rue Boulogne-sur-Mer, owned by Godoy Cruz, owned by Aparo.
His brother, Martin Aparo, who also works for the company, spoke to Channel 9 in Mendoza on Tuesday and said the theft at the Dolphin Mall was “a nuisance of 15-year-old boys.”
Aparo’s brother criticized the media disclosure of the case, saying: “I know them all, and they are from a good family. It was stupid. None of them were criminals.”
He said that he spoke by phone with his brother after their release: “I did not understand anything. They are not criminals. We were very surprised by what happened. They are a group of idiots.”
After testifying before Judge Mindy Glazer, who imposed bail of between $4,000 and $4,500 each, they were granted freedom so they could return to Argentina with the tickets purchased for Wednesday, December 3.
They were not deported and their visas to enter the United States were not cancelled. The case is still open. They will have to return to the United States to appear before Judge Glazer. On January 29, the US Department of Justice scheduled a final hearing in the case.