 Monument Security is a proud sponsor of:
C.L.E.A.R. • Coalition of law Enforcement and Retail
Please visit us at our booth:
3rd Annual Training Conference - 2012
Time and location to be announced
www.Clearusa.org
Police arrested four people in Texas suspected of running a massive shoplifting ring and reselling items at local flea markets. Officers raided homes in Dallas and uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen goods.
Dallas and Denton police closed in on three homes after a month-long investigation. Denton Detective Erin Haislett and loss prevention investigators from several DFW retailers uncovered $300,000 worth of stolen goods from one home alone.
Police photos inside the house show bags of merchandise stacked high and filling several rooms.
Police say the suspects stole items an entire family could use -- shampoo, diapers, laundry detergent, and literally a treasure chest full of panty hose -- stolen from stores including Dollar General, Tom Thumb, The Gap and The Children's Place. Price tags were still attached, and the items were accumulated over four years.
"It's a huge victory for us today," said Kelly Moye, regional loss prevention investigator for Dollar General. "They're exactly like a mini-retailer. We feel like we're at war."
Police say the family in the home, as well as the house next door, bought the merchandise from the actual shoplifters and have been
re-selling them at flea markets.
Retailers are spending more money on security, like tracking devices to recover stolen products, and they say it's ultimately hurting the customer.
"It all costs us in the long run -- higher prices, lost sales tax revenue for the cities," said Moye.
Despite the enormity of this organized retail theft operation, investigators say it's only a tiny fraction of what's going on in North Texas.
Police say you can help spot stolen merchandise. If you find products at a flea market that are cheaper than what you would pay at any legitimate retailer, they're most likely stolen goods.
2010 Apprehension, Arrest & Recovery Analysis - NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
For a complete report, please download our complete 2010 Loss Prevention Results Here (DOWNLOAD PDF)
$323 Theft Apprehension
Results in an over $2 million ORC Case with 6 arrests
Monument Security LP Agent Anaya, working Loss Prevention for our client, a bookstore, Recognized a man from a posted alert bulletin in the store. She observed him conceal seven medical books valued at $323 retail. While LP was processing the suspect she was able to determine that he had stolen on four previous occasions and sold the product at a college bookstore. Her ability to observe and obtain answers from the suspect to the following points was crucial to positioning a successful phone interview:
- Behavior
- Items Targeted
- Method of Operation
- Convincing the suspect they have been under investigation prior to the apprehension
- Accomplices
- Type(s) vehicle
- Locations targeted
- Venue merchandise was sold
- Active listening
CASE NARRATIVE:
On December 14, 2010 LP Ayana, Monument Security Loss Prevention Agent, reported apprehending a shoplifter that had stolen seven medical books valued at $323.63 from the bookstore. The suspect had been seen, along with two other individuals, frequently staging and stealing medical and computer books over the past several months from Southern, CA to San Francisco and resembled a picture on the external theft bulletin. Based on the amount of books and suspicion he was in fact pictured on the bulletin a phone interview was initiated.
During the interview the suspect admitted in a signed written statement to the theft of 1,920 books valued at $115,200.00 over the past six month period from several bookstore locations from San Diego to San Francisco. The suspect disclosed he was in fact stealing with another individual who he named. They would operate by visiting approximately 4 – 5 stores per day taking as many as 8 books per visit, 4 days per week. They would select the books, remove the security tags and conceal them in a backpack. The types of books they targeted were medical and computer books that were $50 each.
He explained they would take the stolen product to book resale businesses and receive $10 to $20 per book:
The suspect estimated he received $1,500 per week, used to purchase fuel for their shoplifting excursions, alcohol and general living expenses.
On January 3, 2010 the suspects accomplice was interviewed and gave a verbal admission to stealing medical and computer books from bookstore locations throughout the state of California beginning in 2005, totaling 27,375 books valued at $1,368,750 retail. He implicated four accomplices that stole at the same rate. The cases have been referred to law enforcement for prosecution.
 On May 22, 2010 at approximately 5:00 PM Mr. Reynolds, an undercover Loss Prevention Agent for Monument Security, apprehended a man that had shoplifted 10 African American history books valued at $222.34 from our Client’s Book store located in San Mateo, CA. Agent Reynolds identified the method of theft and books targeted were indicative of a professional shoplifter.
In an effort to establish the suspect's involvement in previous thefts, a phone interview was conducted while the suspect was in the manager’s office at by the Client’s ORC Investigator. During the course of the interview, the suspect acknowledged in a signed written statement to thefts totaling $1,625,000.00 during an 18 year period. He cited the loss of his wife’s job and later the loss of his as the reason for his theft activity dating back to 1992. He admitted stealing music CD’s, Books (Art, History, Literature and African American titles) and Blu-ray DVDs from local area Bookstores including Borders, Barnes & Noble and Best Buy in both greater Detroit, MI and San Francisco, CA, that he would later sell at book and music stores as well as on the street. He admitted to targeting the Bookstore locations at San Mateo , San Francisco and Emeryville since moving in to California in 2006. He used the proceeds of the stolen merchandise first to supplement his income and ultimately as his sole source of income. He would steal from the aforementioned stores, averaging 56 Blu-ray DVDs, 10 books and 30 music CDs per week. He estimated he would typically make $350 per week selling the aforementioned stolen merchandise, often receiving only 20% of the retail value. He would conceal the stolen merchandise in a bag, backpack or on his person, after removing the EAS tags and would often make multiple trips to steal if the opportunity existed.
At the conclusion of the interview, the facts of the case were reviewed with the San Mateo police department. Allen was taken into custody and charged with burglary. The case is pending a review with law enforcement and the district attorney’s office for additional charges.
|