MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - A group of Cuban nationals out of Florida have been accused in a massive identity theft ring in Middle Tennessee.
They slipped up and ran from Murfreesboro police leading to a huge foot chase.
The pursuit started at the greenway in Murfreesboro. More than two dozen officers were after four suspects on the run.
The suspects were all Cuban-born and all have been accused of criminal conspiracy out of Tampa, Florida.
The men jumped from their stolen car after police pulled them over and ran for the woods.
"Chasing after three or four into the woods is one of the the most dangerous things an officer can do," said Kyle Evans with the Murfreesboro Police Department.
In an exchange with dispatch officers described a foot pursuit through the heavy brush.
They said the suspects tried to lose them in the trees and then looked to escape by jumping into the Stones River.
"Our officers actually chased three individuals on foot, one up to several miles," said Evans.
He said officers eventually surrounded and took the four men into custody before they could make it to the river.
Then a search of their car turned up a large supply of credit and gift cards, photo IDs and card skimmers used to help store stolen credit or ID numbers.
Police accused the suspects of going town to town, running up charges and possibly selling bogus IDs.
"They are going through the U.S. and stealing credit cards all over the country and then taking them through Florida and Georgia and then here to Tennessee," said Evans.
Immigration agents have been notified and all four suspects will be held in the Rutherford County Jail without bond until more has been learned about their backgrounds.
Often times cases like this involving foreign nationals accused of trafficking in fraudulent IDs and credit cards have been referred to ICE agents and Homeland Security.
The four suspects were being held without bond until a hearing in October.
