2014 ORC Cases By the Numbers

Reported in the Daily

 

UK Female ORC gang busted with an "Aladdin's Cave" fencing operation all set up - $15k of merchandise recovered  POLICE have vowed to continue to crack down retail crime after arresting a gang of women shoplifters from Bradford who were targeting stores across West Yorkshire. Officers discovered an "Aladdin's Cave" of stolen quality clothing, stored and ready to be sold on, after raiding a string of addresses in the city. The haul, worth more than 10,000 pounds, was found when police executed warrants at five homes, in Holme Wood and Fagley, on Monday. Five women - aged 22, 27, 34, 38 and 55 - were arrested on suspicion of theft and handling stolen goods. They have been bailed pending further police inquiries. Two of the women are related. Police recovered more than 100 items from the five properties, mainly children's clothing, but also adult's clothes and other accessories. The gang had targeted around a dozen stores across West Yorkshire, including in Bradford city centre and the Forster Square retail park. Police began their investigation after receiving information about suspected stolen clothing and accessories being sold on online auction sites. thetelegraphandargus.co.uk

Cuban Gang of three arrested using counterfeit credit cards throughout Utah at Walmart stores - Part of larger group - Hitting other States  Police officers were able to arrest three men suspected of creating fake credit cards, with stolen valid account numbers, and using those cards in recent weeks to purchase items at Walmart stores throughout Utah. Police also believe the suspects may be wanted in other states. They had used a few of the fraudulent credit cards at the store, and some of the cards contained information stolen from Utah victims. Officers suspect the three arrested individuals may be part of a larger group of suspects who are traveling to various states using stolen credit cards and banking information. The arrested suspects are all originally from Cuba. It appears one of them has gained United States citizenship, but the status of the others involved in the case are unknown. Pilas-Rojas is a fourth suspect officers have identified. Police are attempting to identify at least two additional persons of interest from surveillance camera photographs. Fraudulently purchased gift cards totaling nearly $8,000 were reportedly recovered, as were as an assortment of blank banking cards. At least some of those cards contained stolen information, including possible bank account numbers and other personal data. Federal law enforcement has also been notified of the arrests.  heraldextra.com

C Store Fencing Operation: Lake County, OH Sheriff's Office busts 3 C-Stores selling stolen Big Box merchandise; tied to heroin trafficking  Authorities seized over $150,000 from Lake County businesses that knowingly bought property stolen by heroin addicts who used the cash in the drug trade, officials said. The Lake County Sheriff's Office, after a yearlong investigation, accused five stores in Wickliffe, Painesville and Willoughby of buying and often reselling stolen gold and merchandise stolen from big box retail stores. The Lake County Heroin Task Force launched the investigation in January 2014, asking businesses to report the attempted sale of suspicious property. The task force also began regular compliance checks. The first wave of search warrants, executed March 5, turned up over $100,000 from three grocery and convenience stores. The owners of Dairy Mart in Painesville and the Wickliffe Food Mart and Spinner's Discount Tobacco and Beverage in Wickliffe repeatedly bought items stolen from big retailers, officials said. Investigators on Friday raided two cash-for-gold stores accused of buying gold coins and other metals stolen from homes or businesses. Employees at Gold-N-Merchant in Willoughby and Ohio Gold and Coins in Painesville regularly failed to confirm sellers' identities. Authorities seized $8,000 from the two gold-buying stores. Lake County Sheriff Dan Dunlap in a phone interview said he was not sure where the remaining $42,000 was found. Some heroin users went to the same stores 20 or 30 times to sell property they admittedly stole, Dunlap said. Officials were tipped off by heroin users who overdosed and later admitted to funding their addiction in this way, the sheriff said. The Lake County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing these cases for possible charges of receiving stolen property, money laundering and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. The businesses may also face charges through the Ohio Investigative Unit for licensing violations. "These investigations should serve as a warning to all business owners who buy and re-sell stolen merchandise," said Greg Croft, an agent at the Ohio Investigative Unit. "Through the purchase of these stolen items, business owners are directly contributing to the narcotics problems our communities are facing every day and it cannot be tolerated." newsnet5.com

ORC monthly meeting with Tucson Police pays off with a raid on a shoplifters house  Tucson Police Department put a serial shoplifter behind bars. Detectives said the man used his child and his girlfriend to steal merchandise from Target Stores from Tucson to Tempe. Surveillance pictures were passed around at the monthly retail theft meeting held at Tucson Police Department's Operation Division West. "The target store brought this information to us. They had gotten a license plate from the vehicle," Detective Johnny Walker said. A black BMW helped detectives track down 48-year-old Robert Amereno and 52-year-old Tammy Anderson. Both of the suspects were captured on surveillance cameras. Detective Walker described what Amereno did on the surveillance camera. "He's going to quickly take the price tag off and discard the item," he said. Detective Walker said Amereno would then place that price tag on a more expensive item. "He was concealing merchandise in boxes for cheaper merchandise or he was also doing some price switching," he said. The detectives add that Amereno was using his son to conceal expensive items by sitting on top of it in the shopping cart. If the cashier questioned anything, Amereno would distract them. To stop the detector from going off, Amereno also used a magnetic device to manipulate the security devices that are on some of the merchandise. TPD served a search warrant on Amerino's eastside home earlier this month. The found the stolen merchandise, along with a marijuana growing operation with 62 plants. They also found large screen TV's, cash, an extensive collection of DVDs, hundreds of video games and an expensive watch. Detective Walker estimates between $6,000 and $7,000 worth of merchandise was stolen. Amereno was booked on 16 counts of shoplifting. Anderson was charged with felony shoplifting and felony theft. "The main thing is working with Target we were able to take him off the street," Detective Walked said. Detectives from Operation Division West said they have a good working relationship not Target and the rest of the merchants, and its evident by the number of arrests they're making. According to TPD, all this in an effort to keep the public safe. kvoa.com

Oak Lawn, IL Police arrest man in Razor theft
Dustin L Gilbert, age 32 of Palatine, was arrested March 11 from the Mariano's in Oak Lawn for stealing eight Gillette Fusion razor blades and 12 packages of Olio lotion. The loss prevention agent for Mariano's told police he saw Gilbert hide razor blades and lotion packages in his coat, according to an Oak Lawn police report. Gilbert was brought to the Oak Lawn Police Department, where he verbally admitted taking the items and leaving without paying for them, police reported. patch.com

Four arrested for $1,100 Macy's shoplifting at Eastern Hills Mall, Amherst, NY  Four people involved in a shoplifting incident at Macy's, in the Eastern Hills Mall, were arrested Tuesday evening, according to the Erie County Sheriff's Office. Tanashia Bradley, 18, Dartwon Brooks, 22, Devonte Whitsett, 22, and a minor, all of Buffalo, were arrested during a traffic stop on Transit Road. Deputies approached the vehicle, after getting a description of the vehicle from a loss prevention officer. Deputies found a passenger trying to conceal items inside the car. Officials said $1,100 worth of merchandise was stolen from the store. wivb.com