Arraignments begin for the 70 suspects in gift card theft ring in Louisville  The tedious process to arraign dozens of people involved in a gift card theft ring is underway. Court documents reveal that 70 people involved in the theft ring would steal merchandise from area stores, and then return the products to receive gift cards. Authorities say the suspects would then pawn the gift cards for cash. The suspects have all been charged with criminal syndication and theft. Police have been investigating for nearly a year, and it's not over yet. Authorities expect to file charges against another 100 people. (Source wdrb.com)


New England Retailers have new weapon in fight against ORC - meet NEORCA 
Retailers and law enforcement from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island have joined together to share intelligence and combine efforts to fight ORC. The new organization, the New England Organized Retail Crime Alliance (NEORCA), was announced last week at the New England Organized Retail Crime Symposium & Trade Show in Worcester, Mass. NEORCA is a group or retailers who partnered with law enforcement aimed at reducing property crimes, keeping shoppers safer and lessening their chances of becoming victims. NEORCA was formed after law enforcement and corporate retail partners throughout New England realized the need to combine efforts to combat the growing problem of Organized Retail Crime. The group has developed a website to allow its members to share intelligence, including information regarding crimes of organized theft, robberies, counterfeiting, check and credit card fraud, prescription fraud, identity theft and other scams. The NEORCA website will not only enable the group to communicate about these crimes, but it will also save the information in a written and mapped format, searchable by crime and suspect type. This gives all members the ability to search the website to connect cases and establish patterns and trends. In addition, members may upload photographs and crime bulletins to share with the NEORCA community. All Loss Prevention and Security professionals are invited to join the alliance. Membership is free. Apply to join here. (Source neorca.org)

Broken headlight leads Police to a $20,000 ORC bust in Fort Lauderdale  A faulty headlight brought three men riding in a Honda CRV to the attention of Sunrise police, who said they found $20,039 in merchandise stolen from Sawgrass Mills stores during a traffic stop along West Sunrise Boulevard on Saturday night. Francisco Jimenez Pagan, 37, of Tampa; Jonathan Usman, 26, and Andres Pena Lopez, 25, both of Kissimmee, were charged with grand theft, dealing in stolen property and two counts of possessing a device to thwart anti-shoplifting controls. Jimenez told police the items belonged to the men and that they were in the process of moving. Beneath a sheet in the back of the SUV, police found more than 200 new shirts with tags and anti-theft sensors still attached. The Tommy Hilfiger Factory Store, Coach and Ralph Lauren Boys stores at Sawgrass Mills were listed as victims on the arrest reports. Two homemade "booster bags" lined with a material to avoid detection by inventory sensors were also found in the CRV. Assistant State Attorney Eric Linder said in court Monday that according to an FBI database, Jimenez has 10 aliases and two Social Security numbers, one of which matched the number he gave to police. (Source sun-sentinel.com)

Lufkin Crime Stoppers are looking for two thieves who stole mobile phones from a Lufkin Department store  Security cameras show that one thief stood watch over the electronics section, while the other melted the security devices on the phones. They then took the mobile phones and left the area before a loss prevention employee could stop them. (Source fox51.com)