Two men fencing operation & Rite Aid warehouse worker that stole $50,000 of merchandise headed to trial in Philadelphia  Three Philadelphia men are headed to trial for allegedly stealing at least $50,000 worth of Rite Aid merchandise to stock an illegal convenience store operating out of a home basement. In brief court appearances Tuesday, Juan Agosto, 36, Edwin Burgo, 41, and Miguel Ortiz, 44, waived their right to a preliminary hearing so their cases go directly to Bucks County Court for trial. The arrests followed a tip to Rite Aid that one of its tractor-trailers and a second vehicle would be at a parking lot in the 200 block of Canal Road, near the company's warehouse on Geoffrey Road in Falls. The company-installed GPS system in the truck identified Ortiz as the driver, and surveillance was set up, police added. Early on the morning of Oct. 9, Ortiz's truck entered the parking lot followed by a Dodge pickup carrying Agosto and Burgos, court records show. The pickup truck's bed was empty when it entered the lot, but was filled with Rite Aid storage totes when it left, police said, although no transaction was observed, they said. The pickup was stopped by police, and Agosto and Burgos were taken into custody. Ortiz was taken into custody at the Rite Aid warehouse. Police said the totes and backseat of the truck contained soaps, cleaning supplies, makeup, paper products and other items, which were then taken to a store run by Agosto out of his North Seventh Street house in Philadelphia. Police said the operation at the house was so elaborate it had more surveillance cameras than a Rite Aid store. buckscountycouriertimes.com
 

ORC male duo arrested & charged with organized retail theft in Greensboro, N.C. - Selling stolen goods to fencing operation  Greensboro police have arrested two people accused of stealing $1,500 worth of goods from several retail establishments. Jonathan Scott Spry, 28, and Samantha Lynn Yates Worley, 33, are charged with organized retail theft. Arrest warrants allege that the two took the goods over a 90-day period, with the intention of selling them or placing them "in the control of a retail property fence." news-record.com

Retailer's Alert: Theft ring hits area Walmarts in Athens, TN - "Two men part of a larger group"  Two men police have been attempting to identify have been confirmed as members of a theft ring spanning multiple counties, according to Athens Police Department officials. It was previously reported that on Feb. 10, APD officers responded to the Athens Walmart in reference to four televisions and one set of spiderwire valued at a total of $1,632 being stolen from the store. At the time, one unidentified white male wearing a green hoodie made off with the TVs and escaped in a silver Jeep Cherokee being driven by a second unknown male. APD Det. Josh Rhodes began investigating the situation and determined that the two unidentified men are part of a larger group of people who have committed thefts at several area Walmarts. Thefts by this group of young men have reportedly been confirmed in Madisonville and Signal Mountain; the same vehicle was seen in each of the incidents. If anyone has information on the suspects, they can contact Rhodes at 423-744-2739. dailypostathenian.com

ORC male - meat thief hitting Kroger and others for three years in Columbus, OH  Reynolds, 46, is being sought on theft and criminal-trespass charges that accuse him of shoplifting hundreds of dollars worth of meat from area groceries during shoplifting sprees dating back three years. Averaging $150 worth of meat per theft, Reynolds probably wasn't eating it all himself but had an outlet for it on the black market, Hedrick said. One of the trends our office has observed over the last few years is the growing amount of meat thefts in central Ohio," City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. said in a news release about the search for Reynolds. "It's less rare than it used to be. He said he doesn't know where Reynolds might have unloaded his ill-gotten meats, although they could be sold to smaller carryout stores, restaurants, even food trucks. "He's got to be selling it somewhere," Hedrick said. "Mr. Reynolds is known to Kroger," Jarrell said. "He's been stealing from our stores for years." Loss-prevention officers from markets across the state are gathering today at a Grocers Association conference on the Northeast Side to share tactics and strategy, Filler said. Discussion of meat thefts is almost guaranteed to be on the table.  dispatch.com

Texas Chicano Brotherhood gangsters charged with stealing laundry detergent from Family Dollar  Deputies have charged two members of the Texas Chicano Brotherhood gang with theft for taking laundry detergent from a Family Dollar near Edinburg. Justice of the Peace Jaime "Jerry" Muñoz charged 35-year-old Ismael T. Zavala and 24-year-old Jose I. Alanis with theft, a Class A misdemeanor, according to the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office. Surveillance video released by the Sheriff's Office shows Zavala and Alanis taking several hundred dollars worth of laundry detergent from a Family Dollar store. valleycentral.com

Tips lead U.S. Marshalls to 7th West Michigan's Most Wanted Capture  A seventh fugitive featured on West Michigan's Most Wanted has been captured by authorities. "I have received numerous tips based on your feature on FOX 17, so it's been helping in numerous cases," U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force Supervisor Steve Hetherington says. Authorities are hoping the tips keep rolling in, like the one used Monday to arrest Amanuel Measho in Washington D.C. He says the tipster searched Measho's name online and saw him as one of West Michigan's Most Wanted's featured fugitives. Measho has a lengthy rap sheet, wanted on drug charges in Kent County, hunted by the U.S. Marshals, assisted by Homeland Security, and also wanted in Washington D.C. for felony identity theft, which is where the tipster led the U.S. Marshals. Measho is just one of five wanted fugitives captured in the past few days. Andrew Reynolds and Brett Thompson were also caught thanks to viewer tips. Kedrick Scott was arrested Monday after getting caught up with some alleged shoplifters. "They had a call at the Best Buy for a possible shoplifting in progress. They were able to identify the vehicle leaving the parking lot, two uniform officers made a traffic stop and found Mr. Scott as one of the passengers in the car," Hetherington says. fox17online.com

'Trash Bag Gang' sentenced in connection with drug store burglary in Jackson, MS  Three members of the "trash bag gang" are sentenced for being involved in the burglary of a drug store in Choctaw County. The group became known as the "trash bag gang" because they would use a can from the stores they robbed to carry out the drugs they had stolen. All 3 men are habitual offenders and sentenced to 8 to 20 years. In exchange for their guilty pleas, the State agreed not to pursue other charges pending in other counties against the suspects. They must testify against the one remaining co-defendant. wjtv.com

Watchung, NJ Police investigating a $2,600 theft from Bed Bath and Beyond
Police are investigating the theft of $2,660 in miscellaneous merchandise from Bed Bath and Beyond. According to police at 5:39 a.m. on Feb. 14, two black men entered the store at 1515 West Route 22 and loaded a storage container with the merchandise and fled from the area. nj.com

Two men hit Stop & Shop working together to steal DVD's busted in Watchung

ORC Pomona male facing 4 years in prison for hitting Lord and Taylor stealing $1,838 of Michael Kors handbags - repeat offender

ORC couple arrested for $1,500 theft after hitting Walmart store multiple times in Washington City, NV

Three arrested in local credit card fraud ring in Lubbock, TX., purchasing gift cards

Six member ORC ring busted for string of thefts in Austin at The Domain and Barton Creek Mall