OMAHA, Nebraska – According to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, a man with an expired visa was recently detained by federal authorities after attempting to reclaim tools seized during a construction site theft case.
Natanael Topete-Perez, who was convicted and sentenced in two felony theft cases last week, made the request Monday, according to a DCSO social media post.
According to court records, Topete-Perez was charged with stealing a lighting generator valued at least $20,000 from a construction site in Dodge County in December 2023.
According to the documents, the generator’s rightful owner attempted to buy it back from another seller while DCSO deputies watched. While deputies questioned the seller, Topete-Perez arrived on the scene. Investigators identified him as a suspect in the case and arrested him on charges of theft or receiving stolen property.
Topete-Perez, who was already on probation, was arrested again in July after deputies served a warrant at his home. According to records, DCSO license plate readers spotted his vehicle while investigating repeated thefts at another construction site in West Omaha. Investigators reportedly recovered approximately $20,000 in stolen property at the residence.
According to court documents, Topete-Perez pleaded to lesser charges in the first case and “no contest” in the second. He was sentenced last Tuesday, Jan. 21, to six years probation and community service. Both cases were presided over by District Court Judge Peter Bataillon.
According to a DCSO social media post on Tuesday morning, deputies were unable to prove that some of the $20,000 in tools recovered during their investigations were stolen, so Topete-Perez reached out to reclaim those items.
On Monday afternoon, officers from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him.
“Instead of getting his tools, he was presented with ICE agents who took him into custody for deportation processing,” the DCSO post reads.
Meet Natanael TOPETE-PEREZ. Over the past year he has been active with construction site theft across multiple jurisdictions. However, despite overstaying his Visa and no longer being in the Country legally, ICE was prevented from detaining him after any of his court proceedings… pic.twitter.com/W3VN6Pv8QG
— DCSO – Omaha, NE (@DCSheriffNE) January 28, 2025