HUNTSVILLE — Four Columbian nationals were arrested Thursday night in Houston and charged with murder and theft in connection with the death of a Dallas man struck by a van during a robbery at a Huntsville McDonalds.

Fernando Rodriguez-Amaya, 50, Luis Garcia-Campos, 30, Oscar Ruiz Garcia, 38, and Maria Silva, 30, were each booked into the Walker County Jail after appearing before Justice of Peace Precinct 2 Richard Duncan, who set their bond at $1.5 million each. All four are Colombian nationals believed to be in this country illegally, Huntsville Police Department officials said.

The suspects were caught during a pair of traffic stops in Houston by a task force that included Huntsville police, Houston police, the FBI and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

All four were wanted in connection with a theft and hit-and-run accident that occurred at the 11th Street location of McDonalds in Huntsville on the night of April 17. Arif Sayed, a 59-year-old jewelry salesman from Dallas, was returning from a Houston jewelry convention when he stopped at McDonalds to eat. While at the restaurant, he noticed several people attempting to break into his car and went out to intervene. The thieves removed several cases of merchandise from Sayed’s car and fled the scene, striking him with their 1999 Honda Odyssey as they left the parking lot, police said.

Huntsville police now believe the thieves followed Sayed from the jewelry convention to Huntsville, waiting for an opportunity to steal his merchandise.

Sayed was airlifted to Hermann Memorial Hospital in Houston and died from his injuries on April 19. Huntsville Chief of Police Kevin Lunsford said the department chose not to release news of Sayed’s death for fear that police would lose the trail of the suspects.

“We didn’t want to release that information for fear that they would flee the country,” Lunsford said.

As the hunt for the suspects began in the hours after Sayed was struck down, HPD detectives contacted FBI agents in Houston, who helped coordinate the investigation with Houston and Harris County law enforcement.

Police believe the thieves who attacked Sayed are part of a “South American theft group,” essentially professional thieves who target jewelers and jewelry salesmen and then sell the stolen merchandise for a profit, said HPD Lt. Curt Landrum.

Landrum and Lunsford said these theft groups are not uncommon in the southern part of Texas, particularly in the Houston area.

“We don’t have an indication that they belonged to a larger group, but we are investigating that possibility,” Landrum said.

HPD detectives Scott Bennett and Stacey Smith traveled between Huntsville, Houston and Dallas on a regular basis for two weeks to coordinate the investigation.

Lunsford said all four suspects were also placed under surveillance, and it was through that surveillance that the traffic stops to catch the suspects were arranged.

After the arrests, police also conducted searches of the suspects’ residences, where they found jewelry believed to be stolen from Sayed. Landrum said none of the suspects were armed at the time of their arrest, and all have since been interviewed with the help of translators.

Lunsford praised the efforts of his investigators, as well as the efforts of other agencies who worked to locate the suspects.

“We each had pieces of a puzzle. We could not have put it all together without the cooperative efforts of all the agencies involved,” Lunsford. “It was a very difficult investigation.”