Lego Thieves lead to High Speed Police Chase on NY Thruway  What started as an investigation into an attempted shoplifting incident involving more than $1,000 worth of LEGO sets in Ontario County Saturday turned into a high-speed police chase that caused several crashes, including one that injured a New York State Trooper. Employees at the Walmart in Hopewell called 911 about 3:50 p.m. to report three people trying to leave the store with unpaid LEGO sets. The three people identified by the employees left the store but left the LEGO sets behind. Deputies said the three left in a car, which allegedly matched a description of a vehicle used in a shoplifting incident from the same Walmart store on Friday. Rochester residents Darrel D. Hughes, 23, and Ella M. Cotton, 26, were charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony, for allegedly stealing electronic equipment from the store on Friday. Hughes, who was allegedly driving the car, is also facing numerous vehicle and traffic charges. William D. Johnson, 22, also of Rochester, was charged with attempted fourth-degree grand larceny in the attempted theft of the Lego sets on Saturday. During the chase, the suspects' car allegedly hit one vehicle in Canandaigua and a New York State Police vehicle on the Thruway, causing that vehicle to collide with a Monroe County Sheriff's Office vehicle. Police apprehended the suspects after a short foot chase in a wooded area along the side of the Thruway, deputies said. democratandchronicle.com

Couple accused of pawning 112 gift cards received from returning stolen merchandise  Royal Palm Beach couple pawned 112 gift cards they obtained by returning merchandise they stole from retail stores that they claimed they had purchased, deputies said. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrested Laura Ticehurst, 38, on Wednesday. Her boyfriend, Hector Gonzalez is still at large. Deputies said they were investigating Ticehurst for another crime when they became aware of a large amount of pawn transactions involving her and her boyfriend, Gonzalez. In four months, the pair had pawned 112 gift cards for 50 cents on the dollar, according to the arrest report. Ticehurst told deputies she, along with a man identified as Luis Reyes, would steal items from various stores, such as Target and Marshalls, go to a different store location and return the stolen items. Because they didn't have receipts, they would get gift cards for the items instead of cash. There, Gonzalez and Ticehurst would pawn the gift cards, she said. According to the arrest report, Reyes confirmed Ticehurst's story, saying that he couldn't pawn the gift cards himself because he has no photo I.D. Records show Ticehurst pawned 37 of the cards over nine transactions. Gonzalez pawned 73 cards over 20 transactions. All three face charges of organized scheme to defraud, dealing in stolen property, false verification of ownership and dealing in stolen property. sun-sentinel.com

Fencing Operation: Kroger's ORC Unit working with Police to bust Kansas C-store owner selling stolen goods  Law enforcement authorities in Hutchinson, KS conducted search warrants at three locations on Friday as part of an investigation conducted with the cooperation of Kroger Corporation according to a media release. The investigation revealed that Chetankumar Parvinkumar Patel otherwise known as Chris Patel, the owner of the Zip Trip in Hutchinson was purchasing what he believed to be stolen goods from a member of Kroger's organized retail crime unit. The stolen goods, some of which were for human consumption were then placed on the stores shelves for retail sale. During the execution of the search warrants 162 grams of K-2, 14 grams of marijuana and some of the goods Patel purchased were recovered. Patel was arrested for possession of marijuana, possession of K-2 with intent to sell within 1000′ of a school, no drug tax stamp, four counts of felony theft / possession of stolen property and one count misdemeanor theft/ possession of stolen property. ksn.com

Austin, TX Police look for men accused of stealing GoPros from multiple Target stores in Central Texas  According to police, one of the men usually distracts store employees or removes security devices while the other man walks out of the store with the GoPro cameras. The men do not usually try to conceal the cameras, walking out with them in hand. The 11 robberies happened at various Target stores in the Austin metropolitan area, including Buda, Kyle, Bee Cave, San Marcos, Round Rock, Pflugerville and Georgetown between March 31 and April 27, police said. Police said in one of the robberies at a Target in San Marcos on April 22, a store employee approached one of the men and reached in his waistband for something, and the man threatened physical violence and ran to his vehicle. kvue.com

Pair attempt to steal $3,000 worth of merchandise from Walmart in N. Huntingdon, PA, fight loss prevention  Police in North Huntingdon are searching for the man and woman they said loaded up two shopping carts with merchandise and fought loss prevention workers who stopped the attempted theft. The incident happened Sunday at the Walmart on Mills Lane in North Huntingdon Township. Lt. Rod Mahinske said the man and woman each shopped for high-ticket items around the store, like razors and air compressors, and had $1,800 and $1,300 worth of items in their carts, respectively. Mahinske said the couple then tried to push the full carts out of the store without paying for the items. At that point, they were stopped by a loss prevention officer. "I guess they tried to stop them. The white male pushed the security guard. Once he pushed the security guard, that took it from a retail theft to a robbery," Mahinske said. The security guard wasn't seriously hurt. wtae.com

Macy's shoplifter arrested in Wayne on drug charges
Police seized 238 prescription pills and arrested a 37-year-old Bloomfield woman Friday afternoon following two shoplifting incidents at the Willowbrook Mall. Adrianne Devries is charged with theft of movable property, distribution of prescription legend drugs, possession of controlled dangerous substances, possession of a hypodermic needle and shoplifting over $200 in property, Wayne Detective Capt. Laurence W. Martin said in a statement. She was released with a court date. Devries allegedly shoplifted $1,104 worth of handbags from the Macy's around 2 p.m. and store security guards detained her. When Wayne Police Officers Mark Ciavirella and Robert Franciose arrived, they found scores of pills in her possession, as well as several pieces of jewelry that wasn't from Macy's. northjersey.com

Sunglass Hut employee 'bear hugs' shoplifter till Portland, OR Police arrive
An employee who recognized a man as a potential repeat shoplifter put the accused into a hold and was "bear-hugging" him until help arrived, prosecutors said. Benjamin N. Flayton, 25, appeared in court Friday on charges of third-degree robbery and first-degree theft. Flayton walked into the Sunglass Hut store inside Lloyd Center last Wednesday around 11:15 a.m. and stole about $2,000 worth of sunglasses. That same day, around 6 p.m., Flayton tried to enter the store for a second time. An employee recognized him and tries to stop him from entering. Flayton pushed the employee and continued walking toward the sunglasses. The employee grabbed Flayton as he was taking $1,500 worth of sunglasses. Flayton struggled with the employee but was tripped by another mall employee and taken into custody outside the store. koin.com

Man Tries To Steal 3 Air Conditioners from Home Depot In Somerville, MA
Police report that at about 2 p.m., Robert Scafidi, 43, of Newton, was spotted at Home Depot exiting the store with three air conditioners, an eight-pack of PowerAde, and a Dewalt Power Washer on a flatbed cart without paying for any of the items. Asked by store security what was happening, Scafidi allegedly said he had paid for the items, and his friend in a nearby U-Haul had the receipt. The aforementioned U-Haul was locked, and the friend was nowhere to be found. patch.com





Organized Retail Crime News Report by U.S. World News