Dozens rounded up as suspects in Berks County, PA crime ring; 28 of 38 suspects sought are in custody  Police have pulled the plug on a massive crime ring accused of causing chaos across Berks County. "I think it's going to make a huge dent," said District Attorney John Adams during a news conference Friday morning. Thirty-eight suspects have been charged following a lengthy grand jury investigation dubbed "Operation Gucci." Gucci" was reportedly a term used by the ring, which committed a variety of crimes over several years, investigators said. "Not just one type of crime was occurring, they were all over the books," Adams told 69 News. Some of the suspects have been linked to robberies reported in November 2014 at Sunocos in West Reading and Alsace Township. Officials said some suspects were also behind a check fraud scam that victimized Gage Personnel in West Reading last year, and the credit card scam that originated from the Dunkin Donuts in Wyomissing earlier this year. Investigators said the suspects were influenced by three ring leaders: Jose McFarland, Danita Sanders and Jerome Fiers. Early Friday morning, roughly 100 law enforcement officers rounded up suspects, in addition to executing over a dozen search warrants. As of Friday afternoon, 28 of 38 suspects were reported in custody. Police said 11 suspects had been arrested prior to Friday. The investigation involved members of the Berks County sheriff's office, the West Reading and Reading police departments, Berks County district attorney's major crime task force, Pennsylvania State Parole, Berks County Probation Department and the Berks County Jail System. wfmz.com

Humble, TX Police Officer says she caught Academy theft suspects in the act  Three men were arrested after allegedly coming up with a scheme to steal items for an Academy store in Humble. A Humble police officer said she noticed the suspicious activity early Wednesday evening. She said she saw a car parked alongside the fenced-in boat storage area of the store. The officer said there was one man in the car and two others outside the car, and that the two men outside the car were pulling items through the bars of the fence and placing them in the vehicle. According to the Humble Police Department, the men loaded $559 worth of items into a shopping cart, then pushed the cart into the boat storage area of the store, which is secured by metal bars. The men allegedly pushed the cart up against the fence and then left the store. Investigators believe that the men pulled their car alongside the fence and started pulling items out of the shopping cart through the fence and putting them in their car. At that point, the officer saw them and arrested them. click2houston.com

Two Charged in Connection with Busch Gardens Shoplifting
A 30-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman are facing a felony shoplifting charge after being accused of stealing items from Busch Gardens retail stores. Busch Gardens security guards said they witnessed Joshua Duane Lacy taking jewelry from a display case in one of the retail stores May 9 with Penny Richardson. The two were stopped and searched, and security personnel found other stolen items valued at a total of $1,100 along with a smoking devices containing residue, Williams said. Lacy was charged with felony shoplifting, and a count of possession of a controlled substance is pending results from the forensic analysis. A warrant for felony shoplifting has been obtained for Richardson. wydaily.com

Trio charged with shoplifting at Denver Wal-Mart  Three Gaston County residents were arrested on Thursday by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and charged with shoplifting at the Denver Wal-Mart. Store officials detained a female suspect and told deputies that two male suspects were in or near a vehicle in the parking lot. Deputies said they found William Bryce Black, 49, sitting in the back of a green Saturn SUV with a plastic basket containing razor blades and boxes of Goody's headache powder beside him. Wal-Mart employees showed deputies a surveillance video that showed Black leaving the store with the basket along with Amanda Jo Eversole, the female who was being detained in the store. While deputies were interviewing Black, another man, Gary William Cannon, walked up to the vehicle. He told officers he was offered $50 to bring the couple to the Denver Wal-Mart from Gastonia. Deputies received permission to search the vehicle and located a black book bag on the back floorboard containing a large amount of makeup. Deputies also found 18 four-packs of Atkins Diet drinks in the back of the vehicle. All three suspects told deputies that the items did not belong to them. Deputies seized the make-up and diet drinks, valued at approximately $612, and placed them in evidence. The items stolen from the Wal-Mart, valued at $1,034, were returned to the business. The makeup and diet drinks were checked at the Wal-Mart and it was determined the items did not come from the store, deputies said. lincolntimesnews.com

Man sells plants stolen from store, blames Girlfriend's Mother
A man who sold dozens of stolen plants at a flea market blamed his girlfriend's mother when he got caught, deputies said. A deputy who was working security at the Barnyard Flea Market on Highway 101 in Anderson County got a call from the owner of Country Boys Garden Center in Greenville County who said more than 100 plants stolen from his business Saturday night were being sold at the flea market. The deputy spoke to the man who was selling the plants, who said he had bought 64 plants for $256 from Christopher Smith and another vendor at around 8:30 a.m. Sunday. He said Smith and the other man were selling the plants off the back of a trailer. The deputy located Smith, who said he did sell the plants to the vendor, but that he had gotten them from his girlfriend's mother. Smith was arrested and charged with receiving stolen goods and obtaining goods under false pretenses. wyff4.com

UK: Romanian shoplifter jailed after stealing $1,000 of chewing gum from Cambridge Asda  A gang member whose group targeted shops in Cambridgeshire as part of an "organized" shoplifting operation stole $1,000 worth of chewing gum from Asda, a court has heard. And after "clearing" the Beehive centre store's aisle of the product, Romanian national George-marian Urmuz struck again with a companion just days later at a Willingham Co-operative. Now Urmuz, of Rugby Road, Dagenham, has been jailed for 36 weeks after he was sentenced at Cambridge Magistrates' Court alongside his Willingham theft accomplice Costel Coclea, of Drayton Road, Brent. Giles Beaumont, prosecuting, explained Urmuz, 20, was caught on CCTV leaving the Asda store on March 17 this year without paying for the chewing gum. cambridge-news.co.uk

$10,000 in hair extensions stolen in Barrie, ON, CN