Is retail crime out of control? - Part 1

Part 1 of 2: Latest Retail Crime Statistics and Inflation-Recession Impact

By Tony D'Onofrio, Global Retail Influencer & Prosegur's CEO & Managing Director, Global Retail Business Unit

It's not too early during this summer to think about the upcoming holiday season. This is part one of a two-part series on retail crime trends. What has been the impact of pandemic on retail statistics? How are violence patterns evolving? What are the profiles of the crime wave? How will inflation and a potential recession impact retail crime? If retail crime is out of control, what do we do about it?

Retail Crime Statistics

A November 2021 Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) published study summarized the following:

● Nearly $69 billion worth of products were stolen from retailers in 2019 (pre-COVID).

● USA retail crime results in $125.7 billion in lost economic activity and 658,375 fewer jobs, paying almost $39.3 billion in wages and benefits to workers.

● Retail theft costs federal and state governments nearly $15 billion in personal and business tax revenues, not including the lost sales taxes

● Nearly 67 percent of asset protection managers at leading retailers surveyed report a moderate to considerable increase in organized retail crime, and 80 percent believe it will only get worse in the future.

● Academic research has suggested that most retail theft represent crimes of opportunity. However, professional criminals identify the availability of anonymous on-line marketplaces as ways to easily fence goods, and prosecutorial changes as being major factors contributing to the growth in ORC.

● The growth in on-line marketplaces is highly correlated (61 percent) to the number of shoplifting events reported each year. In addition, those retail categories most subject to shoplifting activities are also the ones most sought after through on-line marketplaces.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), ORC costs retailers an average of $720,000 for every $1 billion in sales as of 2020, up from $450,000 five years earlier.

Read Tony D'Onofrio's full article here

Read more coverage about America's retail crime surge in the section below
 

Organized Retail Crime Wreaking Havoc Across US
Did the Pandemic Pour Gasoline on America's ORC Wildfire?

People have been stealing from retailers for as long as there have been retailers, but the pandemic, along with a shift in organized theft, intensified things.

Incidents of organized retail crime have increased across the country, according to the National Retail Federation, with retailers struggling to stop stolen goods from being sold online. Amid the pandemic, high inflation, staffing shortages and more, organized retail crime is costing businesses more than $700,000 for every $1 billion in sales, according to the organization.

The Delaware Code defines organized crime as theft "in quantities that would not normally be purchased for personal use or consumption," with the intent to resell. It has the effect of hurting innocent consumers when retailers are forced to raise prices to make up for the losses.

What's changed?

The state Chamber of Commerce's Quaranta pointed to staffing challenges as a cause for the rise in thefts. "With fewer 'eyes' on would-be thieves, that's only served to embolden those intent on shoplifting. Unfortunately, honest customers cover the losses incurred in the form of higher prices," he said.

Staffing challenges are affecting all industries, including police, according to Quaranta. Those challenges, alongside economic strife and the pandemic, have made the loss prevention field "more complex and more costly than ever," the National Retail Federation's 2021 Retail Security Survey found.

"No retailer is immune from theft," he said. "Some, however, are better suited to mitigate losses from theft because of higher levels of staffing, store layout, products behind locked displays, security systems and more."

Threats to employees, consumers

When asked what loss prevention-related areas have increased in priority over the last five years, the top answer participating retailers gave was mall and store-related violence, followed by cyber-related incidents and organized retail crime.

"Cyber-related incidents," which go hand-in-hand with organized retail crime, refer mainly to stolen items being sold online on platforms such as Amazon and eBay. Retail groups are advocating for federal laws to address these issues. delawareonline.com

New Mexico AG Wages War on ORC
Op-Ed: It's not shoplifting, it's organized retail crime
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas deserves credit for starting the Organized Retail Crime Task Force last year, a statewide initiative that joins the AG, local law enforcement, store security personnel and employees in taking action.

We're not talking about a teenager stuffing a blouse in her purse. This is brazen stealing of targeted, high-value items. Employees are told to not interfere because of potential danger, and some of the perpetrators have brandished weapons or even shot at store fronts.

The task force took its first actions in Albuquerque, but it's also working with agencies around the state. The Carlsbad and Los Lunas police departments and Sandoval County Sheriff's Office have joined the task force. Recently Española police coordinated with loss-prevention personnel from Walmart to cite 27 people for shoplifting and arrest five.

The task force has also become a valuable conduit for information sharing by retailers and police. Balderas has urged legislators to crack down on organized retail crime.

During this year's session, Albuquerque Republican Reps. Bill Rehm and Stefani Lord introduced House Bill 29 for the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee. It would have created the crime of organized retail crime, defined as one or more people taking and concealing merchandise with the intention of depriving the retailer or altering a label or price tag. If the haul was valued between $250 and $500, it would be a misdemeanor. More than $500 would be a felony.

HB 29 died. Lawmakers were preoccupied with passing the governor's big crime bill, and Rehm's bill needed work. Police want to reduce the threshold for felony charges. They also want felony charges if thieves steal from multiple stores or if they're part of an organized group.

During a recent meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee, the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce told legislators that organized retail crime endangers customers and employees and drives up costs. The financial impact is nearly $900 million, more than 5,000 lost jobs, and $18 million in lost tax revenues. currentargus.com

'NYC's Killing Ground' Residents & Merchants Want Police Back
As shootings surge, this blood-drenched precinct is NYC's worst
It was once known as New York's "Killing Ground" - and amid a surge in Big Apple crime, Brooklyn's 75th Precinct has again scored the dubious distinction of being the city's bloodiest.

The 5.5-mile area, which covers East New York and Cypress Hills, has recorded the most shootings so far this year - with 48 shootings in which 56 victims were hit, according to NYPD records.

And the bullets are flying again across the 75th this year, with shooting incidents up 26.3% through Sunday, compared to the same period last year.

In an even more ominous sign since the start of the summer heat, shootings actually doubled - up 100% - over the previous 28 days, compared to 2021.

One merchant said, "they wanted to defund the police, so now there is no police in the area. What do you expect?"

"I don't believe in this banning the police," said the woman, who gave her name as Cheryl.

"That's a bunch of crap because we need the police. We need them." nypost.com

Florida's Crime Crackdown - Including ORC
Gov. DeSantis to Sheriffs: Florida distinguishes itself with law and order
It was a law and order kind of night in ChampionsGate, where Gov. Ron DeSantis told Florida's Sheriffs the Sunshine State is a source of inspiration for officers nationwide.

DeSantis has staked his claim as the "law and order" 2022 gubernatorial candidate by signing Florida's anti-riot law and legislation to crack down on organized retail theft. He has also vociferously condemned lax enforcement policies and violent protests.

"Feeling safe and law and order has been a huge thing that Florida has distinguished itself versus a lot of these other states, It's not just the states you would think of, blue versus red," DeSantis said. "You know, we have people moving from Buckhead in Atlanta to Florida in numbers we've never seen before because the crime is just absolutely off the rails there."

He also referenced the District Attorney who was recalled in San Francisco for his more lenient stance on crime.

"We believe in enforcing the law across the board, and if you don't like the law, then go run for office, the Legislature, and try to change the law," DeSantis said. "But you don't take it upon yourself as a prosecutor to just simply ignore the law."

The Governor has also approved $1,000 bonuses for first responders, including law enforcement officials, for the second year in a row. And he touted the Hometown Heroes program, which helps qualifying law enforcement officers and others afford a home in their community. floridapolitics.com

The DOJ's Attempt to Stop Mass Shootings Before They Happen
Merrick Garland Says Mass Shootings Are Hard to Prevent Because DOJ 'Can't Just Troll the Internet' Monitoring Potential Threats
In an interview with NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt this week, Attorney General Merrick Garland admitted that flagging signs of violence can be a bit hard for the DOJ.

Holt pressed Garland on what could possibly be done to root out violent extremists before they get the chance to commit a heinous act. "How do you intercept those people before they shoot?" he posed.

For Garland, there is no simple answer, largely because Americans are guaranteed the right to free speech. As such, not all social media posts can be investigated immediately.

"This is the most difficult question in a democracy," Garland said. "You know, we have to respect the First Amendment, we can't just troll the internet looking [at] what everybody in the country is doing. But we have joint terrorism task forces, which evaluate both foreign and domestic terrorists and domestic violent extremists, including racially motivated violent extremists."

Still, Holt pressed Garland further, noting that it's continually "so frustrating" when mass shootings happen, and social media posts from the shooters are released, showing "the ticking time-bomb that was."

In response to that, Garland admitted it is "worrisome," but focused more on the danger of the weapons themselves, and how easily they can be modified. yahoo.com

The Nationwide Fight Over Bail Policy
Zero-dollar bail is ending in Santa Clara County, but fight continues over jail-release practices

Court allows pandemic-based emergency bail order to expire at end of month; leaders disagree on how jail depopulation initiatives affected crime, court equity

Santa Clara County Superior Court has decided to allow its emergency zero-dollar bail order to expire at the end of the month, marking a quiet end to a polarizing jail-release policy enacted in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The policy, which made thousands of people accused of low-level crimes eligible for release to relieve jail crowding as the coronavirus spread unchecked, was a lightning rod for fiercely opposing perspectives.

Critics saw it as a dangerous get-out-of-jail free card exploited by repeat offenders, while supporters saw an eye-opening glimpse into a criminal-justice system that didn't default to bail and pretrial detention practices long tainted by harsh racial and socioeconomic inequities.

Those affected by the zero-dollar bail order are now more likely to see at least some jail time before they can get in front of a judge and argue for release. In essence, it set bail at $0 for an array of mostly misdemeanor offenses and some nonviolent felony offenses, where bail would be less than $25,000, with the express purpose of preventing people from needlessly getting booked into jail and worsening the in-custody COVID-19 risk. mercurynews.com
 
Portland police chief pleads with community to stop violence against officers

Gun company CEOs tell Congress they're not to blame for mass shootings

US: 92.7M Cases - 1M Dead - 87.7M Recovered
Worldwide: 578.8M Cases - 6.4M Dead - 548.8M Recovered

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Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 360   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 787
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Cases Highest Since February
U.S. COVID cases remain close to 130,000 a day
Newly diagnosed COVID cases in the U.S. continue to hover close to 130,000 a day, the highest level seen since February, as the BA.5 omicron subvariant continues to spread. BA.5 is understood to be the most transmissible variant seen so far and to have an ability to break through vaccination and prior-infection immunity.

The daily average for new U.S. cases stood at 128,015 on Monday, according to a New York Times tracker, up 10% from two weeks ago. The true case count is likely higher, given the number of people who are testing at home, where the data are not being collected.

The daily average for hospitalizations rose to 42,862, up 12% in two weeks. The daily average for deaths is up 3% at 439. Cases are higher in California than they've been in six months, while in New York there are more patients in hospitals than at the peak of last year's delta wave. marketwatch.com

COVID's Retail Impact
Major retailers are working through an unexpected inventory
After two pandemic years of stocking up on stuff - desk, chair, bookshelf, dresses, blender, knives - Rachel Premack is now all about travel and saving what she can. Last year, she had the stimulus dollars and nowhere to go; now, she's got weddings and family visits and worries about rising prices. This, on a nationwide scale, became the recipe for a whole new problem for some U.S. stores: a glut of inventory.

"It is just a really bizarre back and forth kind of situation," says Premack, who has followed all this as an editorial director at the logistics outlet FreightWaves. "Inventory managers at major big box stores don't even know how to navigate what's happening anymore, they are just exhausted."

Big box stores like Target and Walmart are particularly working through an excess of certain items. Target has specifically named TVs, kitchen appliances, outdoor furniture, electronics and fitness supplies, with the CEO saying the chain did not anticipate "the magnitude" of the spending shift from goods to services. Some clothing stores, too, such as Gap, got stuck with too many hoodies and athleisure as office workers quickly jumped back into suits and dresses.

"If you think about it, [stores are] ordering goods three, six, even nine months in advance," said Mark Mathews, vice president of research development and industry analysis at the National Retail Federation. "Retailers base their forecasting on historical behavior. But there is no template for what consumer behavior looks like coming out of a pandemic." npr.org

Retailers Respond to Latest COVID Wave
Businesses may consider mask policies as COVID-19 cases increase
Lockheed Martin in Troy, Alabama is one of the companies requiring masks during the BA.5 coronavirus subvariant spike. At green, community levels are "low," and a mask may not be necessary. At yellow, the doctor said people at a higher risk should consider masking. At red, the CDC recommends universal masking indoors.

Alabama retailers have the freedom to enforce masking policies that work for their businesses. "That's all the retailers have really asked for from the very beginning is that they would be able to set the policies because the health of their customers and employees is paramount to every business owner," said Nancy Dennis with the Alabama Retail Association.

Some retailers ask those who are feeling sick to avoid the marketplace for the safety of customers and employees. The Alabama Retail Association explained this recent COVID-19 spike only adds to the current worker shortage, as more employees take off to quarantine. wsfa.com

Data suggests COVID guidance to isolate for 5 days after testing positive is wrong

Wuhan Locks Down 1 Million Residents in Echo of Pandemic's Start

Retail Facial Recognition in the News
Facial recognition still gets mixed reception on retail floors
Two retailers in Australia have temporarily halted use of facial recognition systems on their floors as they are investigated for possibly breaking national privacy laws. At the same time, a United Kingdom retailer is resisting criticism for deploying the technology.

Reporting on the decision by Bunnings and Kmart, The Canberra Times says 17 major retailers have said they have no plans to use shopper-focused facial recognition. The pair reportedly are being examined by Australia's information commissioner.

A managing director at warehouse chain Bunnings told the Times that organized and increasingly aggressive retail crime prompted the company to install the systems only in some stores. The system used scans faces and compares them to those of past troublemakers. If there is not a match, the scan is deleted. Matches result in a call to the police.

Kmart has said its hand was forced by crime. An official told the paper that behaviors are not recorded for marketing purposes or to enhance store performance.

A retail chain in the UK, the Southern Co-Op reportedly put cameras in to combat higher crime in some outlets. Again, images are collected and biometrics analyzed against those captured exhibiting anti-social behavior to stealing, according to the BBC.

The retailers using facial recognition are not necessarily doing anything wrong. The technology is mature and has more use cases than just theft prevention. High-end retailers can use it to identify preferred shoppers, showing them faster and more personalized service.

It continues to meet resistance from some shoppers and skepticism from some retailers, however, particularly in America, with Home Depot an example of a trial deployment that has ended without a production rollout.

Facefirst CRO Dara Riordan tells Loss Prevention that her company has one deployment in the U.S, though to hundreds of locations, while Latin America is its largest customer base. biometricupdate.com

7-Eleven 'Bloodbath'
'It was devastating': Inside the 'bloodbath' at 7-Eleven, where nearly 900 corporate jobs were just cut

Insider spoke with three employees & contractors about the corporate "bloodbath."

By the time those workers clocked in on Monday, July 18, it was clear that cuts were underway. Employees paced around the office, crying and commiserating. They faced their managers, HR representatives, and a squad of unfamiliar security guards.

One laid-off employee who lost their job that Tuesday recalled to Insider that their manager said, "Take some deep breaths. Everything's going to be fine." Then, that worker was laid off, along with at least 880 of their colleagues. Insider spoke with three individuals - one current 7-Eleven employee, one laid-off worker, and one laid-off contractor - who each criticized the manner in which the layoffs were conducted, labeling the company's actions as a "bloodbath" that proved both "sloppy" and unnecessarily "devastating." Each person has worked with 7-Eleven for many years, and Insider verified each source's work history.

'Banner year' in 2021

These employees say the mass layoffs didn't seem like a looming threat as recently as last year. 7-Eleven thrived during the pandemic. Shoppers flocked to the company's delivery services, which doubled in 2021. The Franchise Times even reported on 7-Eleven's planned foray into the quick-service restaurant space, with its eight new "Evolution" store laboratories. One employee described 2021 as a "banner year" for 7-Eleven, one in which the company paid out 188% of the bonus allowance for eligible employees.

Signs of trouble

Employees told Insider that in retrospect, the writing on the wall may have come in the form of increasingly harshly worded emails from the HR department, first requesting and then demanding that workers return to the office. That was despite the fact that, according to employees, the headquarters lacked enough desks and docking stations for returning workers. Now, they say those emails were likely a preview to the corporate bloodletting, a means of pushing out remote workers without having to pay severance.   businessinsider.com

Wave of Retail Bankruptcies Looming?
Here comes a 'flurry' of retail bankruptcies, former retail CEO warns
Retailers on life support may go the way of the dinosaur in early 2023 should the economic slowdown cause a lackluster holiday shopping season.

"I think we will see a flurry of bankruptcies likely in the first quarter of 2023 if this holiday season is anything less than completely robust," Mark Cohen, former longtime CEO of Sear Canada and current Columbia University professor of retail studies, warned on Yahoo Finance Live. "I don't think it will be, by the way."

Retail bankruptcies - which picked up in droves at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic - have fallen by the wayside as consumers returned to stores to stock up on apparel and other items coming out of the pandemic.

Only three retailers filed for bankruptcy in the second half of 2021 versus 20 in the same period in 2020, according to a report from BDO. There were no new retail bankruptcies filed from mid-September 2021 through mid-February 2022, the report found.

"There is no question as business becomes tougher to manage, weak players fall by the wayside," Cohen said. "They are particularly vulnerable to inflationary pricing and inflationary costs."

The bad news in retail continues to mount as the economy slows, calling into question how even the strongest in the sector would navigate a potential recession in 2023. finance.yahoo.com

Pharmacies Under Fire Amid National Abortion Debate
CVS Pharmacy has similar policy to Walgreens, allows pharmacists to deny birth control prescriptions

First, Walgreens came under fire. Now, Walgreens is in the hot seat.

CVS Pharmacy has a similar policy to beleaguered competitor Walgreens, which allows pharmacists to deny prescriptions that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, such as birth control or condoms.

Walgreens came under fire last week when customers documented their issues filling prescriptions for birth control or buying products for other reproductive choices like condoms. Those examples went viral on social media under the hashtag #BoycottWalgreens.

CVS is the nation's largest pharmacy service by market share according to consumer data provider Statista, eclipsing Rite Aid, Walgreens and Walmart and over a dozen other brands. CVS has a market capitalization of $124.86 billion.

Walgreens has a policy in place that allows its pharmacists to step away from a prescription if the pharmacist has a religious or moral objection, but they are required to call a manager or someone else to complete the transaction. usatoday.com

Defrauded 7,000 Merchants - Then Sold Co. for $140M
Executives of Card Payment Processing Company Indicted in East Texas for Nationwide Multimillion Dollar Fraud Scheme
A federal grand jury in Texas has indicted former executives and company leaders at Electronic Transactions Systems Corporation ("ETS") for their conduct in defrauding approximately 7,000 merchant clients out of millions of dollars.

According to the indictment, between 2012 and 2019, the defendants, at the direction of ETS president Ed Vaughan, are alleged to have defrauded ETS merchant clients by deliberately disguising a portion of their processing fees for thousands of clients. The indictment describes how the defendants executed their fraud, including by embedding the hidden markups in "Interchange fees," misleading merchant clients in emails and contracts, and failing to disclose the true fee structure in billing and account statements.

The indictment also details how Vaughan and Akkad used the fraudulently obtained funds to personally enrich themselves through multimillion-dollar bonuses, luxury vehicles and private aircraft, and high-end real estate purchases. In addition, because the fraud was concealed prior to ETS' acquisition, Vaughan received an additional $107 million, and Akkad received $33 million from the sale of the company. justice.gov

Giant Eagle Steps Up Flashfood Program
Move follows successful pilot that slashed 430K pounds of food waste
 
Best Buy unveils small-format, 'digital-first' store

U.S. economy shrinks again in second quarter, reviving recession fears

Signs indicate that worst of food price hikes has already happened

Laxatives sold at CVS, Walgreens recalled due to contamination


Quarterly Results

Boot Barn Q1 comp's up 10%, net sales up 19.4%

Murphy USA Q2 merchandise comp's up 6.6%, tobacco comp's up 4.5%, non-tobacco comp's up 8.9%, fuel up 33.6%,

Columbia Sportswear Q2 DTC comp's up 5%, wholesale down 1%, net sales up 2%

Cheesecake Factory Q2 comp's up 4.7%, sales up 8.3%

Loblaw Cos Q2 food comp's up 0.9%, Shoppers Drug Mart comp's up 5.6%, E-commerce sales down 17.5%, sales up 2.8%

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Online Price Discrimination
Online pricing algorithms are gaming the system, and could mean you pay more
If you've shopped online recently, you may have had this experience: You find an item, add it to your cart, and then when you get around to paying, the price has increased. You can thank pricing algorithms.

These are computer programs that look at factors such as supply, demand and the prices competitors are charging, and then adjust the price in real time. Now, there are calls for greater regulation at a time when these tactics are expected to become more common.

"A key thing about the algorithm is that given different inputs, like, say, time of day or weather or how many customers might be showing up, it might decide on a different price," said Harvard economics professor Alexander MacKay.

In a paper he co-authored in the National Bureau of Economic Research, he studied the way algorithms compete. He found that when multiple businesses used pricing algorithms, both knew that decreasing their price would cause their rival to decrease their price, which could set off a never-ending chain of price decreases.

"Why try to start a price war against a firm whose algorithm will see my price change and immediately undercut it," he said.

A study published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal found that price discrimination led to decreased feelings of fairness and resulted in "disastrous consequences both for the vulnerable party and for the performance of the business relationship as a whole."

MacKay said a few regulations could help avoid some of these consequences and bring competition to a more standard model. The first would be preventing algorithms from factoring in the price of competitors, which he said was the key factor weakening price competition. The second was decreasing how frequently businesses could update their prices, which he said would mitigate or prevent a business from undercutting a competitor's price. npr.org

Prime Day Sales Up 8.5% in 2022
Adobe: Total online sales during Prime Day near $12B
Capturing consumers seeking deals amid inflation concerns, consumers spent $22.4 billion during this year's Amazon Prime Day week, a 6.1% increase from last year, according to an Adobe report released Tuesday. During the Prime Day event between July 11 and July 12, shoppers spent $11.9 billion online, up 8.5% from last year.

According to the report, the toy category had the deepest discounts across retailers at 15.4%, followed by clothing (12%) and electronics (6%).

Usage of buy now, pay later services to pay during Prime Day increased 13% compared to Prime Day 2021. The average order value for BNPL shoppers increased by 12% during this year's Prime Day event from last year, the report found. retaildive.com

Why Online Shopping Makes You So Happy

Portage Man Gets 16 Years' Imprisonment For Leading $3.2M Scheme To Defraud Amazon's Textbook Rental Program

Talsma is last of four defendants sentenced for participating in the mail fraud scheme

Geoffrey Mark Hays Talsma, 37, of Portage, Michigan, to 16 years' imprisonment for mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. Talsma's sentence additionally includes an order to pay restitution to Amazon in the amount of $3,227,347.82. While imposing the sentence, Chief Judge Jarbou commented that Talsma "concocted the scheme and involved many others."

From January 2016 to March 2021, Talsma defrauded Amazon by using the internet to create numerous Amazon accounts and email accounts to rent textbooks and sell the textbooks for a profit when he should have returned the textbooks or paid the agreed upon buy-out price. Talsma caused Amazon to ship the textbooks through the United States Postal Service or across state lines using private commercial carriers. He concealed his fraudulent activities in part by recruiting and paying unwitting individuals to accept shipments of stolen textbooks at their homes so that Amazon would not detect a pattern of large volumes of books going to locations associated with him. Over time, Talsma taught some of these same individuals his scheme to defraud and actively supervised their participation in the fraud. Defendant shared the profits of the fraud scheme with these individuals after he sold the textbooks over the internet and at various bookstores, including a bookstore in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Additionally, according to the plea agreement, Talsma also ordered rental textbooks in the names of unwitting individuals and then pretended to be those individuals when calling Amazon and falsely claiming that he did not receive the textbooks. Talsma then received a credit from Amazon that he used to order additional textbooks. The fraud scheme caused losses to Amazon well in excess of $3,000,000.00.

Talsma is the last of four defendants to be sentenced for their roles in the mail fraud scheme. The other individuals previously sentenced include:

● Lovedeep Singh Dhanoa, age 25, of Portage, Michigan - 15 months' imprisonment
● Paul Steven Larson, age 32, of Kalamazoo, Michigan - 6 months' imprisonment
● Gregory Mark Gleesing, age 44, of Portage, Michigan - 3 years' probation, including 4 months' home detention. justice.gov

Norristown, PA: 2 ordered to face trial in retail theft ring that took $100K in merchandise
Two Macungie residents who led an organized retail theft organization that hit stores in Berks, Lehigh and Montgomery counties have been ordered to face trial on criminal charges. Joseph Payea, 67, and Penelope McClain, 49, were scheduled to face preliminary hearings Tuesday before District Judge James P. Gallagher on corrupt organizations and related charges. Online records show the most serious charges against both were bound over for county court. Montgomery County authorities seized nearly $100,000 of merchandise in their investigation. Officials say Payea posted lists of items they wanted on social media to a group of people suffering from addiction. They say the two would then buy the stuff from the thieves and resell it below market value. Authorities say the items were stolen primarily from Lowe's and Home Depot stores. Among the items authorities seized were about 50 chainsaws and 67 spools of electrical wire, authorities said. Officials say they also seized nearly $90,000 of cash when they arrested Payea and McClain. Payea faces 20 felony charges, including conspiracy, organized retail theft, endangering the welfare of children, criminal solicitation and criminal use of a communications facility. McClain faces 14 charges, including 11 felonies, that also include conspiracy, organized retail theft, criminal solicitation and organized criminal theft. wfmz.com

Memphis, TN: $9K in merchandise stolen from Frayser clothing store
Memphis police are looking for a group of suspects who they say stole approximately $9,000 worth of merchandise from a clothing store in Frayser Monday morning. Officers saw the front door window was shattered when they responded to a burglary at the Village Mart on Frayser Boulevard before 4 a.m. Police say six or more suspects broke into the business and stole limited and special edition shoes, belts, cologne, and various clothing. Surveillance video shows the suspects grabbing items and running out of the store with their arms full of merchandise. facebook.com

Las Vegas, NV: Couple accuses Red Bull addiction of stealing in over 45 cases; hitting Smart and Final and Costco
One of the two suspects claimed to have a Red Bull addiction when they were caught stealing dozens of Red Bull cases from stores all over Las Vegas, Nevada. After a fast-paced pursuit on July 21, Eugene Davis, 35, and Angela Sharp, 27, were detained by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. Local media reported that they are accused of carrying out four separate heists over the course of a week to steal large quantities of Red Bull. technotrenz.com

Mount Pleasant, WI: Illinois woman accused of stealing over $6,000 from Menards in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana
Kelly A. Spears, 46, of Rockford, was charged with a felony count of retail theft altering price between $500-$5,000. According to a criminal complaint: On May 29, 2020, an officer was sent to Menards at 3101 S. Oakes Road for a reported theft. The loss prevention employee said that Spears entered the store and selected three items to purchase on May 9. She then switched the bar codes on the three items with much less expensive ones, creating a loss of $647 for Menards. The items were a bath fan, a heat mat and a cable heat mat. Menards has also stated that Spears has done this type of theft from Menards across Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana, causing a total loss to Menards over $6,000. journaltimes.com

Ontario, Canada: Police Looking For Two Suspects After $20,000 Of Clothing Stolen In Smash And Grab Downtown Peterborough

Lake Grove, NY: 3 women wanted for stealing from Old Navy

Livingston, NJ: Female arrested for $500 theft from Macy's