Lawsuit filed in theft of Socom laptops

In March 2010, a group of thieves spent nearly 10 hours cutting through the roof of the IGov warehouse in Tampa. Inside were about 3,000 laptops, waiting to be delivered to U.S. Special Operations Command.

After gaining access to the warehouse, the thieves cut the wires to the alarm system, investigators say, and took $7.4 million of computer equipment. They were later caught and most of the laptops were recovered.

The insurance company, United States Fire Insurance Company, said it still had to pay off more than $2 million in claims. Now it is suing the alarm company, ADT, saying that the thieves would have been apprehended before leaving the warehouse had ADT not installed an analog backup system they knew would be inoperable.

In February, 2003, the Federal Communications Commission announced that all analog cell phone systems had to be switched over to digital by 2008. In 2006, ADT agreed to install a system at the iGov warehouse on 9211 Palm River Road that included a wireless backup system that would bring help if the alarm wires were cut, according to the suit.

But that system, the suit claims, was analog and inoperable.

"Had ADT not breached its duties, the alarm system would have notified ADT (and thus the authorities) of the break-in, the theft would have been prevented, and the damages sustained by the insured would have been prevented, either in whole or in large part," the suit states.

Tom Walsh, vice president of contracts for iGov, declined comment. Bob Tucker, an ADT spokesman, said the company would have no comment.

The investigation began almost a year ago after two burglars cut a hole in the roof of a military contractor's warehouse in Palm River and rappelled inside.

The warehouse is operated by iGov, a Virginia-based contractor that supplies communication and computer network equipment to U.S. Special Forces.

"This was very choreographed, and it was operated at a very high skill level," Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said earlier this year. "Obviously they have done these things before."

But even as the elaborate heist was being carried out March 6, investigators said, a simple burger run was helping pave the way for detectives to crack the case.

Rolando Coca, 55, of Miami, was arrested in South Florida and faces a federal indictment for theft of government property, officials announced. A red Lincoln Navigator captured on surveillance video at the crime scene also was spotted on camera at a McDonald's a mile away, Gee said. Coca later was identified by authorities as the man at the SUV's wheel in the drive-thru lane.

Investigators seized the Lincoln in April and found a piece of foam insulation, which analysts determined was consistent with material from iGov's roof.

Coca's DNA also was found on a door and window at the warehouse, authorities said.

Because many cargo thefts in Florida appear to have Miami ties, Gee said deputies, federal agents and an informant worked to buy 30 laptops for $15,000 in South Florida.

A second deal, 100 laptops for $50,000, also was organized. Gee said the dealers imposed a restriction: the laptops could not remain in the country.

The computer equipment had been stolen from iGov, investigators said.

Authorities discovered an abandoned warehouse in Opa-locka that housed 1,900 computers — about $4.7 million of stolen equipment.

Some stolen property also was found for sale on Amazon and eBay, although about 1,000 items remain missing.

No military information was contained in the stolen laptops, authorities said.

Investigators said Coca heads a Miami crime family linked to several cargo thefts.

One other person has been arrested in the iGov theft: Emil Benitez, a "middle man" who has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for his involvement, Gee said.

The investigation continues.