Ten arrested in massive ORC shoplifting ring in Florence, S.C.
Ten people have been arrested in connection with an extensive shoplifting scam that has cost local retail businesses more than $30,000 over the past two years. Florence Police Maj. Carlos Raines said at least eight of the suspects worked together in a scheme to steal from local businesses. The other two have not been conclusively connected to the group but were carrying out the same scam. The way this worked is one person would go in a store and shoplift merchandise, then bring it out and give it to one of the others,” Raines said. “Then that person would take the stolen merchandise back in and return it for a gift card. They’d then take the gift card and sell it to a pawn shop for half its worth. Some days, they were hitting the same stores two and three times.” In September, the group hit stores on 17 of 20 days, Raines said. One store alone lost more than $20,000 in merchandise to the group. The ring used two Florence pawn shops to sell the gift cards and often went to the shops more than once a day. Arrest warrants have been issued for four other people in connection with the same ring. Investigators are working to locate those suspects and hope to have them in custody by week’s end. Anyone with information on this shoplifting scam or others being executed in the city of Florence is asked to contact the Florence Police Department at 843-676-8800. (Source scnow.com)

Two pros busted at Wrentham outlets, Mansfield, Mass.
Local police have arrested two "professional" shoplifters at the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets. Police recovered merchandise allegedly stolen from the Tory Burch store valued at more than $5,000, plus another $1,000 in merchandise believed to have been taken from other stores in the region, police said. The two suspects, Andrew P. Mason, 44, and Zawadi Roach, 24, both of Brooklyn, N.Y., used foil-lined bags in an attempt to defeat the store's electronic security system, police said. The so-called pro thieves travel long distances to hit malls with high-end merchandise they sell on the black market, police said. (Source thesunchronicle.com)

Chelmsford Man Charged With Alleged Multi-State Baby Formula Theft Spree; caught by Police K9  Police in Salem, N.H. have arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with a multiple town crime spree. James Slater, of Chelmsford, Mass., is facing multiple charges, including receiving stolen property, willful concealment (felony third offense), resisting arrest, disobeying a police officer, and driving after revocation. Police in Chelmsford issued a "BOLO" at about 2 p.m. Tuesday for a Toyota Matrix which had been stolen in Andover Tuesday morning and then used in the theft of baby formula in Chelmsford and Nashua, N.H. At about 2:30 p.m., the car was spotted pulling out of the Market Basket Plaza in Salem, N.H. An officer attempted to pull the car over, but the driver, later identified as Slater, jumped out the passenger side window and attempted to flee on foot, police said. Slater was taken into custody after a brief struggle. (Source lowellsun.com)

A Refrigerator and 5 cases of Red Bull stolen from a Pennsylvania Walmart
A refrigerator and a case of Red Bull were stolen recently from Walmart in Springfield, according to Marple Township Police. Store employees reported to police that two Hispanic men had taken a refrigerator valued at $164.84 and five cases of Red Bull valued at $84.40 at about 1:16 p.m. on Sept. 26.
The total retail theft was valued at $254.24, according to police. The men left in a white Toyota Corolla with Pennsylvania tags and was last seen headed toward Interstate-476. The store employee told police he believed the men were the same men involved with a retail theft from Walmart on Sept. 3, in which $636.94 worth of items were stolen. (Source marplenewtown.patch.com)

Provo Police seeking three suspects in Jewelry Courier theft at Provo Towne Center.  Police are on the hunt for three people who they say robbed a jewelry courier Tuesday. Around 2:20 p.m., Provo police responded to Provo Towne Centre to investigate a robbery at a jewelry store. A jewelry courier had just stepped out of the store when three people pulled up next to him wearing black hoodies and clothes over their faces. Police believe they were driving a gray Honda Odyssey. A witness who saw the robbery from another part of the parking lot said he could see two of the people in the van, who he described as a "skinny white guy" and a woman in her mid-20s. One man got out of the van and held the courier at knife point, while the woman got out and took the jewelry he was carrying. Before the trio fled with the jewelry, the man with the knife slashed a tire on a car the victim was standing by before leaving the scene, possibly believing it belonged to the courier, Siufanua said. It didn't. Police believe the robbery was carefully planned because of how precisely timed it was. (Source fox13now.com)