Going to USMC’s boot camp is supposed to change a person. The man or woman who showed up and stood on those yellow footprints is not the Marine who comes home. Surrendering their sense of self to instead put the needs of their fellow Marines over their own, they learn about values like honor, courage, and morality. For many, their drill instructors become like the mom or dad they always needed.
Then you have people like 18-year-old Marcelo Hernandez.
Freshly back from boot camp, the newly minted Marine used his new motivation and skill sets and went the other way. In a series of high-stakes robberies, he looted over half a million in valuables from multiple jewelry stores across Harris County, TX. Seen on security cam breaking into the stores with a sledgehammer, stores like David Yurman and Helzberg Diamonds at the Houston Premium Outlet Mall were his targets. Striking after hours, he was clad all in black to help avoid detection and used USMC-style movements for maneuvering around.
Constable Mark Herman of Harris County Precinct 4 told Fox Houston, “This is what we term a ‘serial jewelry store burglar’…He was being taken into custody and his dog tags fell out. He did tell us he was in the US military. Actually, he just recently finished his boot camp in the Marine Corps about a week before one of our cases.”
Upon his arrest, $11,000 in cash and $500,000 in jewelry, including diamonds and other precious stones, and three firearms were discovered in his Mercedes Benz GLA. Evidence from other crimes and statements given by Hernandez could wind up implicating him in other crimes.
