Click here to see the list of incidents per city from each weekend this summer. docs.google.com

Read more coverage about America's crime and gun violence epidemic in the section below
 

New Mexico's ORC Call to Action
Editorial: NM lawmakers need to get serious in '23 on organized retail crime

It's been more than a year since law enforcement officials in New Mexico called for tougher penalties for the shoplifting rings behind major losses at retail stores.

The governor and the Legislature declined to consider a bill during this year's short session that would have created the crime of organized retail crime and established thresholds for felony charges. In hindsight, House Bill 29 was a missed opportunity to shore up the efforts of law enforcement leaders.

In July 2021, the state Attorney General's Office announced the creation of a statewide Organized Retail Crime Task Force targeting professional shoplifting operations. During that press conference, Balderas and Medina pressed lawmakers to take action.

The task force - a partnership among law enforcement agencies and loss-prevention personnel in retail stores - has succeeded in taking down more than 100 serial shoplifters. But efforts to confront the problem keep expanding. On Wednesday, while announcing New Mexico's participation in a 20-state network to gather data on organized retail crime, Balderas described the shifting criminal landscape.

The N.M. Chamber of Commerce is part of the New Mexico Organized Crime Association, which now has access to the multistate Auror retail crime platform - an online network that allows retailers to share security video, cellphone images and other information with law enforcement.

While that's certain to help nab criminals, Medina reiterated the need for more police officers and prosecutors and options for courts to punish retail thieves. Which brings us back to House Bill 29. It was endorsed by the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee in the summer of 2021 but wasn't on the governor's call for legislative action.

The bill would allow prosecutors to "aggregate" the total value of merchandise stolen from retailers over the span of a year. If the aggregated value exceeds $500, defendants could be charged with fourth-, third- and second-degree felonies. It's time for lawmakers to give the bill a fair shake instead of ignoring/killing it as they have over the past couple of years. abqjournal.com

Shootings & Murders Down in NYC
NYC Labor Day violence down this year with 15 people shot citywide; Mayor Adams credits community efforts
Fifteen people were shot in the city over Labor Day Weekend - a significant drop from last year's holiday weekend, police said Tuesday.

A special collaboration between the NYPD, city agencies, local clergy and violence interrupters made this year's West Indian Parade one of the safest on record, Mayor Adams said. Adams said other city agencies pitched in to help police handle the celebration.

Fifteen people were shot on Sept. 3, 4, and 5, this year's Labor Day weekend - including three on Saturday, five on Sunday and seven on Monday, cops said. Only one of the shootings - outside the Nostrand Houses in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, early Monday - was fatal.

That's a 48% drop from Sept. 3, 4 and 5 of 2021, when 29 people were wounded in 20 separate shootings Friday through Sunday, according to police. Shooting stats for Labor Day Monday 2021, which fell on Sept. 6, were not immediately available.

The 115 shootings reported in the city in August was was down 30% compared to the 165 shootings reported in August 2021, the NYPD said in a news release Tuesday. The downturn was driven by "steep" reductions in shootings in the Bronx, southern Queens, and northern Brooklyn, the police said.

So far in 2022, shootings are down 12%, the NYPD says. In all, police have investigated 945 shootings this year through Sunday, compared to 1,077 in the similar period of 2021.

Murders were also down, with 27 counted in August compared to 59 in August 2021 - a decline of 54%. So far this year, murders are down by 12% citywide this year, with 290 slayings so far compared to 331 in the comparable period of 2021.

Robbery and assault have jumped by 38% and 18% respectively this year, NYPD statistics show. Nonetheless, police believe the reductions in shootings and homicides are "a sign that the NYPD's work to eradicate violence is taking hold." news.yahoo.com

Police Chief Says Officers Caught Up in a Game of "Catch & Release"
Prince George's County executive announces curfew for juveniles
Prince George's County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks said Monday that a curfew would go into effect for juveniles younger than 17, beginning Friday, to battle crime after one of the deadliest months in decades for the jurisdiction just outside D.C.

"You should know - and I believe this is absolutely astounding - that August was the single deadliest month in Prince George's County's history," she said.

The curfew - which is backed by civil penalties, including fines - will be in effect for 30 days between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:59 p.m. and 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Alsobrooks (D), flanked by the county's police chief and council chair, also lashed out at the county's prosecutor, courts and families for what she said was a systemic failure to hold young people responsible for their dangerous, risky and sometimes criminal behavior.

Nearly two-thirds of the juveniles arrested by police for carjacking this year have prior criminal records, and half were 15 years old or younger.

Alsobrooks defended police, saying arrests have been made. "The problem is what happens after the arrest or, in our case, what hasn't happened or doesn't happen," she said. washingtonpost.com

Another Way to Curb Retail Theft
Smart safes deliver retail success

Smart safe systems help to neutralize losses by keeping financial assets protected and defended. The safes go much further than that, though.

On the surface, smart safes look pedestrian, shaped and structured much like any other safe, with a passcode, and push-button accessibility architecture. But what makes it "smart" is its ability to seamlessly connect to the internet as well as any other systems that pertain to cash management, such as the point-of-sale or back-office infrastructure.

How big of an issue is retail theft?

As previously noted, theft has never not been an issue for retailers, regardless of their specialty or segment. But it's become more prevalent in recent years, with a number of franchises forced to close select locations where it's been rampant. Retailers have also encountered a significant amount of employee theft. Smart safe systems help to neutralize shrink by keeping financial assets protected and defended. Smart safes go much further than that, though.

Reduces cash-in-transit needs: atmmarketplace.com

Tracking Gun Sales to Curb Crime?
Visa, Mastercard, Amex Urged to Track Gun Sales to Fight Crime

Attorneys general of California and New York say credit-card companies should treat gun stores as a separate merchant category to help flag suspicious patterns of transactions

Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc. and American Express Co. should begin tracking gun sales and flagging suspicious purchases to law enforcement, similar to how financial institutions look out for money laundering, the attorneys general of New York and California said.

The three leading credit-card companies should take a front-line role in trying to prevent mass shootings and reduce the risk of gun trafficking, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats, said Friday in a letter sent to the companies. wsj.com

16 killed in mass shootings over long holiday weekend: watchdog
Sixteen people were killed and 47 were injured in the U.S. as a result of mass shootings over the long Labor Day weekend, according to watchdog data. The nonprofit Gun Violence Archive logged 12 mass shootings Sept. 3-5.

Inside the U.S. Capitol Police K-9 unit

US: 96.7M Cases - 1M Dead - 92.7M Recovered
Worldwide: 611.5M Cases - 6.5M Dead - 589.2M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 362   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 795
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Work-from-Home Options Are Here to Stay
Companies are using carrots, not sticks, to get workers back as hopes fade for post-Labor Day return to the office

"Post-pandemic, it's just how we work ... Employees are expecting that level of flexibility from their employers."

Instead of giving employees hard deadlines to leave comfy home offices, most are enticing people back with new amenities and perks, including the option to stay home for a portion of the week.

It's a big change from how the return to the office was first envisioned, according to market experts. Many companies planned to make a sharp break with the past after the Labor Day holiday, designating it as the date when workers finally returned. Similar hopes were pinned to the first two Labor Days of the pandemic.

But the tight labor market, and the difficulty in recruiting new hires, means popular work-from-home options are here for the foreseeable future. That leaves uncertainty hanging over a market already plagued by high vacancies, because it could take office users months to calculate just how much space they will need in the future. chicagotribune.com

What's the Supply Chain Impact?
Xi Jinping's Personal "Zero Covid" policy isn't going well

As China Imposes More Covid Lockdowns, 'Everyone Is Scared'
Nearly every province has recorded infections in recent days, leaving some 60 million residents locked down in at least 33 cities. Weariness is growing by the day as the restrictions go on seemingly without end. As the restrictions have spread across the country, so has public discontent. Even the government appears to have tacitly acknowledged that people's patience is fraying.

Over the weekend, Chengdu's Covid testing system - which has been tasked with swabbing all of the city's 21 million residents every day - collapsed, leaving residents waiting in line for hours. Even though new infections remains small, with about 1,500 new cases on Sunday. nytimes.com

Good News: No Severe COVID Spike This Fall
Covid forecast: Major fall surge unlikely, but variants are a wild card

Newly reformulated boosters could suppress some of covid's cold-season spread

Cold weather favors the coronavirus. But as summer gives way to fall, infectious-disease experts are guardedly optimistic that the spread of covid-19 this autumn and winter won't be as brutal as in the previous two years of the pandemic.

Coronavirus scenarios from multiple research teams, shared in recent weeks with federal officials, foresee stable or declining hospitalizations in early fall. The scenarios show the possibility of a late-fall surge. A new variant remains the biggest wild card. But several factors - including the approval this week of reformulated boosters and the buildup of immunity against the latest strain of the virus - could suppress some of the cold-season spread, experts say. washingtonpost.com

Americans may need yearly shots to protect against Covid-19
Going forward, Americans may need to get a single, annual Covid-19 shot every year, White House health officials said on Tuesday, making clear the country will be living with the coronavirus for the foreseeable future.

During the summer of revenge travel, covid struck back

Security Industry Waits to See The Impact on Their Jobs
As Ex-Uber CSO Heads to Trial, the Security Community Reels

Joe Sullivan, Uber's former chief of security, faces criminal charges for his handling of a 2016 security breach. His trial this week has divided the security industry.

Joe Sullivan was a rock star in the information security world. One of the first federal prosecutors to work on cybercrime cases in the late 1990s, he jumped into the corporate security world in 2002, eventually taking on high-profile roles as chief of security at Facebook and Uber.

"Everyone knew him; I was in awe, frankly," said Renee Guttmann, who was the CISO for Coca-Cola and Campbell Soup. "He was an industry leader."

So it came as a shock to many in the community when Mr. Sullivan was fired by Uber in 2017, accused of mishandling a security incident the year before. Despite the scandal, Mr. Sullivan got a new job as chief of security at Cloudflare, an internet infrastructure company, which he left in July to focus on the trial.

But the investigation into the incident at Uber continued, and in 2020, the same prosecutor's office where Mr. Sullivan had worked decades earlier charged him with two felonies, in what is believed to be the first time a company executive has faced potential criminal liability for an alleged data breach. Mr. Sullivan has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Other chief security officers are following the case closely, worried about what it means for them.

Continue Reading

Walmart is facing a class action suit for allegedly violating an Illinois privacy law by using surveillance cameras and Clearview AI's facial recognition database

A lawsuit filed in Illinois alleges that Walmart violated Illinois' Biometric Privacy Act.

The lawsuit alleges that Walmart has recently used Clearivew AI's "facial recognition database," which if true, would mean that Clearview violated its own recent settlement agreement under the law.

A lawsuit seeking class action status filed Thursday alleges that Walmart violated Illinois' Biometric Privacy Act by improperly using "cameras and advanced video surveillance systems," as well as the software and database provided by the facial recognition company Clearview AI.

Continue Reading

Federal agencies release study on indicators for crime estimates using NIBRS data
Indicators for Crime Estimates Using NIBRS Data, prepared jointly by BJS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services (FBI-CJIS) Division, describes the crime indicators that will be estimated based on data from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

NIBRS offers a robust set of characteristics about crime incidents reported to police, recording up to 58 data elements for each incident. The broad scope of the information collected in NIBRS will greatly improve the nation's understanding of crime and public safety. This publication details which indicators will be included for estimation and the rationale for their inclusion in the report on crime in the United States. bjs.ojp.gov

Read the Full Report

Retailers on Trial Over Opioid Crisis
Walmart, Walgreens, Kroger begin opioid trial in New Mexico
U.S. pharmacy operators Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walmart Inc and Kroger Co on Tuesday faced off against the state of New Mexico in the latest trial over their alleged role in the U.S. opioid epidemic, following recent high-profile losses for pharmacies in other lawsuits.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, in his opening statement, argued that the pharmacies were supposed to act as a "dam" against a flood of illegitimate opioid prescriptions by refusing to fill prescriptions with "red flags" that signaled abuse.

Dan Alberstone, another lawyer for the state, said the three companies had dispensed more than 550 million opioid pills in New Mexico from 2006 to 2019 - more than 263 for every person in the state.

John Majors, a lawyer for Walmart who delivered an opening statement in defense of all three companies, countered that pharmacists must exercise their "professional judgment" rather than relying on "mechanical application of red flags."

He said that the state would not be able to prove that pharmacists "knowingly" filled any illegitimate prescriptions. reuters.com

The Pressure is On Corporations to Take Action on Social Issues
How Companies Can Be Proactive - Not Reactive - on Social Issues
Companies are increasingly feeling pressure to respond to social movements on inequality, but far too many tend to respond reactively - making a donation or social media statement - instead of taking proactive measures to build equity and inclusion in their own organizations. The author offers four proactive actions to take: 1) Invest in "safety net" resources, 2) codify and operationalize your organization's mission and values into a DEI strategy, 3) pursue internal and external initiatives that align with your mission and values, and 4) act consistently. hbr.org

Quiet Quitters Make Up Half the U.S. Workforce, Gallup Says

Young professionals surveyed said they were the most disengaged. A big source of tension: Returning to offices

The number of workers who say they are actively disengaged from their jobs-defined as workers who are unhappy about their work and resentful their needs aren't being met-is rising, according to new research by Gallup, in June of 15,091 U.S. workers, which has tracked workers' investment in their jobs since 2000. People under 35 reported the sharpest drop in engagement.

Nearly one-third of workers described themselves as engaged, or enthused about work, while just under 20% described themselves as actively disengaged, according to Gallup's June survey of 15,091 U.S. workers. The rest are "not engaged"-people who do the minimum required and are psychologically detached from their jobs. Gallup said quiet quitters now make up half the U.S. workforce. wsj.com

Michaels Plans to Hire 15,000 Employees for the Holiday Season

Eagle Hill: Nearly half of US workers are not taking vacation

 
Quarterly Results

Lululemon Q2 comp's up 23%, sales up 29%
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

VP Retail job posted for Mobily LLC - AT&T Authorized Retailer in Sugar Land, TX
The Vice President oversees the day-to-day operations to support the growth and add to the bottom line of Mobily. They will specifically oversee all aspects of the organization including Human Resources, Real Estate, Asset Protection, Store Operations, Training and Sales. Their focus is on strategic planning, goal-setting and to direct the operations of the company in support of its goals. By measuring progress and adjusting processes accordingly, the Vice President keeps the entire organization on track. indeed.com
 

Discussion with CEO of Identity Theft Resource Center
How to Spot the Latest Tactics in Business ID Scams

ITRC Official Discusses Increase in ID Theft, Tax Fraud, Fake Invoicing and More

Why is business identity theft increasing, and what are the latest tactics fraudsters are using to scam businesses and gig workers?

Eva Velasquez, CEO at the Identity Theft Resource Center, says the bar to entry for cybercriminals is much lower and in many cases just requires one successful phishing email to steal money. Even worse, it's difficult for businesses, sole proprietor entrepreneurs and gig workers to spot identity fraud.

Government agencies can help by doing a better job of providing training, cybersecurity best practices and enforcement to prevent lax procedures at businesses because "businesses are incentivized by their bottom line," she says.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Velasquez discusses:

● Tried-and-true and emerging tactics of fraudsters, including tax filing scams, fake invoices, bogus loans and more;

● The differences between business ID theft and customer ID theft;

● Why it's important to have the right processes in place and to train employees to detect fraud and phishing.

Velasquez previously served as the vice president of operations for the San Diego Better Business Bureau and spent 21 years at the San Diego District Attorney's Office. She is a recipient of the National Crime Victim Service Award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime and the Florence Kelley Consumer Leadership Award from the National Consumers League. govinfosecurity.com

As the Cloud Grows, So Does the Risk to Organizations
Supply chain risk is a top security priority as confidence in partners wanes
As cyber attackers increasingly look to capitalize on accelerating digitalization that has seen many enterprises significantly increase their reliance on cloud-based solutions and services as well as third-party service providers, software supply chain risk has become a major concern of organizations.

Seventy-nine percent of security professionals responding to a recent survey conducted by the Neustar International Security Council (NISC) indicated that their organization's reliance on cloud-based solutions has increased from pre-pandemic levels, with 48% saying their reliance has "greatly increased." Similarly, 78% said their reliance on cloud-based services has increased (40% greatly), and 66% reported that their reliance on third-party services providers has increased (27% greatly). As a result, 76% of respondents said they now view supply chain risk as a top security priority.

Reasons cited for this growing reliance include the increased pace of digitalization within their organization (69% of those confirming increased reliance), the need to scale rapidly due to rising demand for the organization's products and/or services (49%), and the inability to find in-house talent as readily as previously (39%).

Security professionals continue to express concern about increased risk due to closer integration with third-party partners. 73% of survey respondents believe they or their customers are exposed to some degree of security risk as a result of this integration (24% "very significantly"), and 77% say they have increased the rigor of their due diligence process for external partners as a result of the Log4j vulnerability and recent attacks against service providers such as SolarWinds and Kaseya.

When asked how they feel Log4j has been handled, security decision makers lacked confidence in the response, both internally and externally. Just 37% of respondents believe their own organization has completely addressed vulnerability issues connected to Log4j, and 43% admitted they were unsure whether trusted third-party partners had done so while 24% said "no."

While 72% are confident in the contingency plans they have in place should a critical service provider experience an attack that disrupts services and puts their organization at risk, 24% do not feel confident about their organization's response and 4% do not know how their organization would respond. helpnetsecurity.com

Operator of Four Domains Selling 5.85M Stolen Records Busted & Faces 10 Yrs.
DOJ: Website Selling Stolen Login Credentials & Other PII Seized and Its Operator Charged for Conspiracy & Trafficking in Unauthorized Access Devices
Greenbelt, Maryland - A website operating as a marketplace for over 5.85 million records of personally identifying information (PII) was seized today by Portuguese authorities and a federal criminal complaint charging the website's alleged operator has been unsealed. Law enforcement in the U.S. has also seized four domains used by the website: "wt1shop.net," "wt1store.cc," "wt1store.com," and "wt1store.net."

The federal criminal complaint alleges that Nicolai Colesnicov, age 36, of the Republic of Moldova, operated WT1SHOP, an online market that allowed vendors to sell stolen login credentials and other PII, including approximately 25,000 scanned driver's licenses/passports, 1.7 million login credentials for various online shops, 108,000 bank accounts, 21,800 credit cards. Colesnicov is charged with conspiracy and with trafficking in unauthorized access devices. The criminal complaint was filed on April 21, 2022, and unsealed today upon the seizure of the website and its domains.

An image of the WT1SHOP database that showed there were approximately 60,823 registered users on the site, including 91 sellers and two administrators. As of June 2020, sellers on WT1SHOP had engaged in sales of approximately 2.4 million credentials for total proceeds of approximately $4 million. The credentials sold consisted of login credentials for retailers and financial institutions, email accounts, PayPal accounts, and identification cards, as well as credentials to remotely access and operate computers, servers, and network devices without authorization. justice.gov

Increasing Access to Cyber Jobs
Calling Women to Join the Cybersecurity Field
As the cybersecurity skills gap persists, it is imperative to create access to training, career pathways, and opportunities in order to encourage more people to pursue careers in cybersecurity. By providing access to and possibilities for cyber jobs for everyone, including women, students, veterans, and others, Fortinet is working to encourage greater representation within cybersecurity. Fortinet offers training, certifications, and career tools in an effort to narrow the cyber skills gap.

This mission aligns nicely with one of our Education Outreach partners, Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS). I recently spoke with Lynn Dohm, the executive director of WiCyS, about the organization's partnership with Fortinet and why now is a great time for women to enter the cybersecurity field. csoonline.com

Government guide for supply chain security: The good, the bad and the ugly

EPA drafting plan to protect water from cyberattacks

DOJ: Essex County Man Admits Using Credit Cards and Checks Stolen from U.S. Mail to Attempt to Defraud Banks of Over $250,000
NEWARK, N.J. - An Essex County, New Jersey, man today admitted scheming with others to use credit cards and checks that were stolen from the mail by at least two U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employees to make hundreds of thousands of dollars of purchases. Adeeb Salih, 30, of East Orange, New Jersey, pleaded guilty.

Salih obtained checks, including U.S. Treasury checks, and credit cards from Yaseen Salih, 25, and Jahad Salter, 26, who had recruited USPS employees, including Khadijah Banks Oneal, 31, and Ashley Taylor, 28, to steal the credit cards and checks from the mail in exchange for compensation. They then used the stolen credit cards to make purchases in New Jersey and elsewhere.

The charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a maximum punishment of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2023.

Yaseen Salih, Salter, Banks-Oneal, and Taylor previously pleaded guilty for their respective roles in this scheme and are awaiting sentencing. justice.gov

Bellevue, WA: Officers arrest more than 50 people accused of criminal activity at Bellevue Home Depot
Police say they've arrested more than 50 people accused of shoplifting and criminal activity at and around a Home Depot store in Bellevue. According to Bellevue Police, officers have arrested dozens of people since January at the same location for crimes ranging from shoplifting to robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle. In a recent case, police said they stopped two suspects from trafficking stolen goods. Home Depot loss prevention reported that a vehicle in the parking lot matched one linked to the theft of a pressure washer at a Bothell Home Depot. Detectives watched as one of the suspects sold the pressure washer to another person in the parking lot. Investigators said the vehicle and clothing they were wearing matched and they were arrested. Both were released from jail the next day. Bellevue Police said they are regularly analyzing crime statistics using the department's new Transparency and Accountability dashboards. q13fox.com

St Louis, MO: Thieves Steal Thousands in Perfume from Ulta Beauty Stores
One particular beauty store is increasingly finding itself the target of thieves, both in St. Louis and nationwide. According to St. Louis County Police Sergeant Tracy Panus, three St. Louis County Ulta Beauty stores were each hit by thieves three times in August alone. The nine larcenies occurred at Ulta stores in Creve Coeur, Affton and Fenton. In every incident more than $750 of merchandise was stolen, making the thefts felonies. Many of the incidents involved groups of three to six individuals working in tandem to pilfer merchandise from the beauty store. One woman posted to Facebook saying that she saw teenagers at the Fenton location "who filled up pillow cases like it was Halloween." Ulta stores seem to be facing issues of theft nationwide. riverfronttimes.com

Queens, NY: Update: NYPD released video footage of 3 men in $60,000 hold up AT&T
The police released video footage Friday of three men wanted for holding up a Woodside cellphone store at gunpoint last month. The suspects allegedly entered the AT&T store located at 58-20 Roosevelt Ave. at around 6:55 p.m. on Aug. 26, before one of the men displayed a firearm and forced an employee into the back office and demanded he open the safe. The men then placed $60,000 worth of cellphones into a duffle bag and fled the location on foot. There were no injuries reported as a result of the incident. sunnysidepost.com

Columbia, SC: Hobby store robbed of more than $10,000 in cards
A pillar of Columbia's game hobby community was robbed over the holiday weekend. Firefly Toys and Games, located on St. Andrews Rd., reported a group of shoplifters had taken a high-end binder of Magic the Gathering cards from an employee-only area on Sept. 1. It is valued at least $10,000. The business said there have been arrests but the binder has yet to be recovered. The Lexington County Sheriff's Department said Thomas Henry Starnes, 20, was arrested on Sept. 2. He is facing charges of: Shoplifting/Shoplifting value of more than $10,000 and Conspiracy/Criminal Conspiracy, Common Law Conspiracy. wistv.com

Madisonville, KY: Men accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of gift cards from CVS
Two men are behind bars in Hopkins County, Kentucky, after being accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of gift cards from a local CVS. The Madisonville Police Department says officers responded to the CVS after an employee called 911 to report a theft. The employee told police that two men had left in a blue Jeep after taking nine $500 gift cards. Police said they saw a blue Jeep nearby and pulled it over, finding two Michigan men, 32-year-old Dewanne Midgett and 29-year-old Toyale Lockett inside. Officers said that during the traffic stop, they smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. During searches of the vehicle, police say they found a baggie of suspected marijuana, several opiates, and nine gift cards. They say they also found several Michigan ID cards with various names, which is indicative of fraud. MPD says Midgett and Lockett told conflicting stories about how they paid for the gift cards. Officers say the cashier told them that the men kept going to and from their car to get different cards for payment, and requested her to run the transactions as "exact cash." Police say the men claimed they didn't steal anything, and that it was the cashier's mistake. Both Lockett and Midgett were booked into the Hopkins County Jail on charges of theft and drug possession. wevv.com

Chico, CA: Rite Aid Burglary suspect found with over 100 packs of cigarettes
Officers responded to a commercial burglary at Rite Aid on W. East Ave. in Chico at about 6:55 a.m. Wednesday. Police said a man broke a window and emerged with a duffel bag full of items. An officer on duty received information about a vehicle and located it driving southbound on Nord Ave. The officer pulled the vehicle over and identified the driver at Jonothan Nance, 35. Nance was identified as a parolee at large and wanted for a parole violation. actionnewsnow.com