COVINGTON, La. -- A Texas man has been arrested in connection with a string of burglaries at JC Penney stores from Covington, La., to Indianapolis.
St. Tammany Parish officials said the Aug. 16 theft from the JC Penney store in Covington was likely the largest burglary in the parish's history.
Arrested is Hector Castillo, thought to be the mastermind behind the department store burglaries in Texas, Indiana and Louisiana.
Castillo may not be his real name. He's known to have 27 aliases and 16 different Social Security numbers. He was arrested Tuesday in Pasadena, Texas.
Sheriff Jack Strain said Castillo has confessed to the crimes.
Investigators also recovered more than $3.5 million worth of merchandise, most from the house where Castillo was arrested and two storage locations.
Strain would not say if Castillo is one of the two men seen in surveillance video from the Covington burglary, but he did say the suspect -- who is still in Texas -- is cooperating.
Castillo is expected to be returned to St. Tammany Parish in the coming weeks, even as other jurisdictions where burglaries occurred issue arrest warrants of their own.
Copyright 2009 by WDSU.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
