HOUSTON -- With sirens blaring and blue lights flickering, Houston Police raced down the tree‑lined streets of West Alabama to Unit No. 19 at Skylane Apartments. Someone called 911 from there last Wednesday reporting an attempted home invasion.

When patrol officers arrived and finally got the resident to open the door, they made two discoveries.

First, the alleged suspect must have fled.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, cops noticed meth inside and evidence suggesting a large identity theft ring. The renters themselves, the very ones who called 911, were going to jail.

Facing charges right now are Christopher Cox, Darrell Evans, and Carlos Mario Gonzalez‑Cantu, the renters, who are all Houstonians.

"There's almost nothing that they weren't involved with at this apartment; from narcotics to vice to robbery to property crimes," explained HPD Financial Crimes Unit Sgt. Chris Lohse.

For more than a week now, Sgt. Lohse and his colleagues have deconstructed the trio's complex crime ring through a mountain of evidence.

Investigators found copies of drivers licenses, some legitimate, some counterfeit. There were computer programs with templates to make more from dozens of stolen Social Security cards, passports, even W‑2s.

"Don't leave your social security cards, your purses, your wallets in your cars," Sgt. Lohse said. "Because once they get your information they run with it."

For more than three years, HPD believes the three sold meth and other drugs out of this Montrose area apartment, manufactured fake IDs, and used counterfeit credit cards to rent cars. But Sgt. Lohse said the group then stole the rentals after replacing their license plates with fake temporary tags they printed. Investigators recovered two Chrysler 300s, a Hummer, a Jeep Cherokee, and a Nissan Pathfinder, which were never returned to rental cars.

"We think this is probably going to end up being a sophisticated identity theft operation," said Sgt. Lohse. "Thus far, we've identified approximately 100 complainants all over the country."

Victims nationwide.

Officers still have 11 computers left to examine, which they suspect will reveal more stolen identities and likely lead to additional charges against the suspects.