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Fencing Operation: Warrant leads police to Wake towing co. Raleigh, N.C.
Placing Orders For Merchandise
Female arrested to larceny cooperates with police and connects owner of towing
company to selling stolen merchandise. Communications between Snyder and Tony
Harris, owner of Hollywood Towing, from shortly after Christmas until
Snyder's arrest “discussed the theft, sale and receipt of stolen property
from retail locations." Text messages “often included pictures of new retail
property appearing to be stolen from retail locations," Womack wrote. Harris,
who operates Hollywood Towing, was charged Wednesday with organized retail theft
that had gone on for 90 days that an arrest warrant taken out by Wake County
sheriff's investigators said ran through Feb. 10.
Womack also told the magistrate Snyder had been able to communicate on her phone
with someone to tell that person what to steal from a store and how to get to
Harris' home to sell it. newsobserver.com
Inmates & Smartphones Running Retail Scams from Inside
While serving time at Ventress Correctional Facility in Clayton, Joseph H. Raper
managed to defraud a tire business with a smuggled in smartphone by about
$200,000. On Thursday, federal Judge Scott Coogler sentenced Raper to about
three years in prison, which he'll serve while in custody for the remainder of a
sentence imposed in 2000. That sentence stems from theft of property and
fraudulent use of a credit card charges. “(Raper) would start off calling a
business and say, 'Hey who do you sell your tires to?'" said Brandon Essig, an
Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case.
 In
this case, the business Raper called was STM, LLC, a tire retailer in Fort
Walton Beach, Fla. He was able to find out that STM sold tires to HMT, Inc., a
trucking company located in Alabama, court documents indicate. He called (HMT)
and found out the name of a real person working there, then he called (STM) back
and ordered tires (under the guise of being an HMT employee) with what was
usually a bogus purchase order number," Essig said. “But by the time (STM)
figured it out, the tires were gone."
Court documents say that after sealing the purchase from STM, Raper would sell
the tires to a third party business, such as a tire distributor, at a
significantly reduced price. Then he'd hire a “free world person" to get the
tires from STM, and bring them to whoever Raper sold them to from inside the
prison.
Three others have also recently been federally sentenced for carrying out a
scheme involving inmates swindling a business from inside prison walls using a
smuggled phone. Garrison, Coston and Lee would defraud gas stations and
convenient stores around the country. While serving time at Bullock County
Correctional Facility, Garrison and Coston called clerks at these businesses and
posed as as a district manager.
They'd say, 'What I need you to do is count down the cash in your drawer,'"
said Essig, who also handled this case. “Whatever number (the clerk) came back
with, (Garrison and Coston) would say, 'Look, your cash count is off. It's
showing $500 more than what we've got here at the corporate office. The two
would then direct the clerk to remove an amount of cash from the register, and
purchase a pre-paid debit card to correct the overage.
Once the card was purchased, the defendants told the clerk to provide them
with the account number over the phone so that the funds could be
transferred, an indictment states.
They'd do that and say, 'OK now you're clear. We've credited the money back and
so now your books are fine. The $500 has been taken care of.' Meanwhile the
district manager is actually Garrison and Coston on the phone sitting in a jail
cell in the Alabama Department of Corrections making this phone call," Essig
said. They would then immediately call Pamela Lee, Garrison's mother, and give
her the account numbers, which she would use to transfer the funds to an
alternate pre-paid debit card.
montgomeryadvertiser.com
Portland, OR: Wire Cutters used in Assault, ORC Gang tied to $50,000 theft
A 24-year-old woman accused of being part of a metro-wide organized retail crime
ring, is now accused of using wire cutters to cause serious physical injury to
one of her co-defendants in the theft ring. The group is accused of stealing
more than $50,000 in apparel and personal goods.
koin.com
Woman stole $24K in underwear from Victoria's Secret, Garden State Mall,
Paramus, N.J.
She is accused of stealing from floor displays since August 2015, police said in
a statement on Friday. With the help of store employees, detectives developed
Roman as a suspect in January. There were nine thefts totaling $24,000, they
said. She was held in the Bergen County Jail on $75,000 full bail.
nj.com
Westfield, MA: 4 suspects wanted in Walmart theft; $350 in merchandise stolen
Westfield police are looking for your help to find four suspects wanted in
connection with a theft of hundreds of dollars in merchandise from the city's
Walmart store. Westfield Police Detective Rick Mazza said that the three men and
one woman appeared to have been working together on the March 2 theft. The woman
was seen leaving the store with a shopping carriage full of food items and a
baby car seat.
wwlp.com
Riverhead, NY: Thieves hit Ralph Lauren; Polo Outlet hit for $3,900
Two men removed about $3,930 worth of merchandise from the Polo Ralph Lauren
store at Tanger Outlets Sunday around 7:20 p.m.
timesreview.com
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