TATUM, Texas (KLTV) – A series of crimes that started in June at a Tatum baseball field is nearing resolution, as reported by the police department.
Law enforcement is searching for three individuals involved in a plan to steal debit cards and personal information in order to withdraw funds from victims’ accounts;they have called these individuals the “Felony Lane Gang.”The individuals they are looking for are Cecil Ruffin, Brittney Ramkelawan, and Amanda Martin.
On June 26, six vehicle thefts occurred in Tatum at the baseball field, with an additional one reported at a different spot in the city. Property was taken from the vehicles, according to police. All seven incidents were connected and handled by the Tatum Police Department as part of a coordinated criminal effort.
On July 2, Tatum police reported that they received information about a woman who drove through a Vera Bank branch in Lufkin and managed to withdraw several thousand dollars from the account of one of the victims involved in vehicle burglaries. Since the woman kept her face away from the camera, Texas DPS intelligence was unable to definitively recognize her.
The Tatum Police Department later obtained a significant clue in the cases after being informed a few days later that a vehicle had avoided arrest or detention within the City of Desoto, located in Dallas County.
Two individuals were taken into custody during the traffic stop and recognized. One male suspect was unable to provide identification and provided a false name and date of birth, according to the police.
The DeSoto Police Department captured images of the two individuals and let them go, following the confiscation of several stolen identification documents, checkbooks, and banking details from the victims at the Tatum Baseball Park.
Desoto Police Department informed Tatum officers about the items that had been taken from the suspects,and sent them the images of themselves. They managed to obtain a complete criminal record of the second suspect in this manner.
On July 15, Vera Bank in Mexia reached out to Tatum Police Department to inform them that a white female had tried and failed to withdraw money from another account belonging to a victim of the Tatum ballpark incident. The images of the woman could not be recognized, as she avoided showing her face to the camera.
The Tatum police shared her photographs on their Facebook page on July 24 in an effort to get the public’s help in recognizing the woman.
When they did that, they got numerous calls from individuals and agencies indicating that the woman featured was a suspect in cases spanning the eastern part of Texas. A victim from close to Austin provided Tatum Police with an exact facial image of the woman. The victim had lost thousands of dollars to the suspect in the same manner as the Tatum victims had reported.
The image was sent to the Texas Rangers and she was recognized as Amanda Martin.
The other two individuals linked to the suspected offenses were named as Cecil Ruffin and Brittney Ramkelawan.
The Tatum police are preparing probable cause affidavits for the arrest of all three individuals, who are facing allegations of participating in organized crime, vehicle burglary, identity theft, and fraud.
The cases will be submitted to the Rusk County District Attorney’s Office for legal action.
