Operation Hammer Time: 3 Charged in $500K Hardware Store Theft Ring Hitting Treasure Coast

It started with a sledgehammer through the glass at Sewell Hardware in Stuart in December 2025. By the time the Martin County Sheriff's Office finished unraveling the thread, investigators had traced a coordinated smash-and-grab ring across 40 or more hardware stores in 13 Florida counties, with roughly $500,000 in stolen tools and property flowing south to Miami-Dade to be resold.

The Martin County Sheriff's Office announced charges Thursday against three men in connection with the burglary network, which sheriff's investigators named Operation Hammer Time. The suspects — Johnny Batista, 19; Roberto Hernandez-Castro, 39; and Roberto Aldana-Ferrera, 31 — each face charges of racketeering, burglary over $1,000 in damage while masked, burglary of an occupied structure, and burglary of an unoccupied structure. A fourth suspect, Maikell Fleitas, is deceased.

The ring operated from December 2025 through April 2026, striking stores in Martin, St. Lucie, and Palm Beach counties, as well as locations in Broward County and communities including Fort Pierce, Stuart, Lake Worth, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and Jupiter, court records show. All three suspects lived in Miami-Dade County, where investigators say the stolen merchandise was taken to be fenced.

The method was blunt and fast. Crews used sledgehammers or other blunt objects to shatter glass, then swept merchandise and fled — often before alarms sounded or deputies arrived, officials said.

Major Ruben Romero of the Martin County Sheriff's Office said the damage cuts deeper than the dollar total suggests. "There's already inflation that we notice severely in our state, and the more they steal, the more damage they cause, the more expensive things are," Romero said. "People can't go to work because they can't afford the tools."

As of Thursday, Batista was already in Martin County Jail on an unrelated vehicle theft arrest made in February. Aldana-Ferrera is in custody in Georgia. Hernandez-Castro remains at large, with an active warrant for his arrest. Romero said investigators are still seeking at least one additional suspect and believe burglaries occurred before December 2025 — the earliest currently confirmed date in the case.

Anyone with information on Hernandez-Castro's whereabouts is urged to contact the Martin County Sheriff's Office.

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