CHARGES FILED: Suspected Washington Co. storage unit thieves charged in Ozaukee Co.

OZAUKEE/WASHINGTON COUNTIES (WITI) -- Two men have been charged in connection with the burglary of storage lockers in the Village of Saukville in Ozaukee County -- and officials in Washington County, where 100 storage units were burglarized, say charges are pending against them there.

John Shomo



54-year-old John Shomo Jr. and 29-year-old Cecil Zapata (both of Milwaukee) are officially charged in the Ozaukee County case.

On Wednesday, May 14th, Washington County authorities identified two suspects arrested in connection with the storage unit burglaries there as 54-year-old and 29-year-old men. Their names were not released, as they have not yet been charged there.

In Ozaukee County, Shomo faces three felony counts of burglary of a building or dwelling.

Zapata faces two felony charges -- one count of concealing a stolen firearm, and one count of felony bail jumping in the Ozaukee County case.

A criminal complaint against Shomo and Zapata in the Ozaukee County case says on March 10th, an individual burglarized the storage lockers at B Safe on North Progress Drive in the Village of Saukville.

The complaint says among the property stolen during the burglary was a shotgun.

Cecil Zapata



An Ozaukee County investigator met with a member of the Washington County Sheriff's Department -- who was engaged in an investigation of Shomo.

The complaint out of Ozaukee County says during the investigation of burglaries in Washington County, an investigator had arranged for a GPS tracking device to be affixed to Shomo's vehicle.

Investigators obtained surveillance video from the B Safe storage facility, and the complaint says Shomo was seen entering the B Safe storage facility with a passenger.

After the vehicle entered, the complaint says it was later seen with two motorcycles in a small wooden trailer.

Investigators were able to learn that GPS coordinates confirmed Shomo's vehicle was at the B Safe storage facility on April 20th, according to the complaint.

The GPS tracking device revealed that Shomo had left his home on April 20th, and had traveled to the home of his nephew, who is Zapata.

The complaint says Shomo's vehicle eventually ended up at the B Safe storage facility. The vehicle was then tracked back to Zapata's home -- where it sat for about five hours.

Investigators obtained four search warrants -- one of which was for Zapata's home.

The complaint says during the execution of the search warrant at Zapata's home, officers discovered the shotgun that had been stolen on March 10th from the B Safe storage facility.

That shotgun was found in a closet inside Zapata's residence -- according to the complaint.

The complaint says more than 1,000 other pieces of suspected stolen property were found throughout Zapata's residence, garage, and basement -- enough to fill a 26-foot Penske moving truck!

The complaint says when questioned, Shomo admitted to officials he had committed the burglaries at the B Safe storage lockers in Ozaukee County.

The complaint filed against Zapata says Zapata is charged in a separate case for OWI (5th or 6th offense). As a condition of bond in that case, he was ordered NOT to commit any crimes.

Officials in Washington County have confirmed with FOX6 News that Shomo and Zapata are the two individuals taken into custody in connection with the storage unit thefts there.

Charges against them in Washington County are pending.

Officials in Washington County say around 100 storage unit burglaries took place in the county in the first quarter of 2014.

The burglaries occurred at multiple storage facilities in the towns of Barton, Jackson, Kewaskum, Polk and Trenton.

Washington County officials are in the process of identifying the owners of the stolen property that has been recovered.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Washington County case.