Streamlining Retail Theft Cases in New York
Governor Hochul, New York City Business Leaders and District Attorneys Push for Stronger Discovery Laws to Combat Organized Retail Theft

Governor’s Proposal To Streamline Discovery Process Will End Procedural Delays and Prevent Automatic Dismissals of Retail Theft Cases

Governor Kathy Hochul today stood with business leaders and District Attorneys to call for essential changes to New York's discovery laws that would amend reforms passed in 2019 and serve as another tool to combat retail theft. The Governor’s latest push builds on her efforts to establish new protections against organized retail theft that were signed into law with the FY25 Enacted Budget as part of her five-point plan to combat these crimes.

“Retail theft threatens public safety and drives costs up for all New Yorkers,” Governor Hochul said. “I have been clear since day one: I won’t stop fighting to pass a State Budget that prioritizes affordability and key public safety measures. We cannot allow loopholes in our discovery laws to harm the progress we have made in combatting organized retail theft and I remain committed to advancing key changes to discovery laws to hold perpetrators accountable.”

In 2024, Governor Hochul signed into law a key component of her five-point plan to fight organized retail theft. These protections included more than $40 million for dedicated retail theft teams within State Police, District Attorneys’ offices and local law enforcement dedicated to fighting organized retail theft. The plan also provides a $5 million tax credit to help small businesses invest in added security measures, such as cameras, and increases criminal penalties for anyone who assaults a retail worker by elevating it from a misdemeanor to felony.

Without changes to New York State’s discovery laws, efforts to stymie organized theft and drive down crime across the state will fall short of their intended goals. In New York City, the number of larceny dismissals doubled from 3,385 in 2019 to 7,168 in 2024. In 2024, 25 percent of all larceny arrests in New York City were dismissed, up significantly from 14 percent in 2019. governor.ny.gov


CA's ORC Crackdown Continues: $2.1M Recovered, 174 Arrested Last Month
California Governor Says Efforts to Tackle Retail Crime Have Paid Off

California’s expensive efforts to crack down on retail crime are paying off.

Since January, the Golden State’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCTF) has recovered $4.4 million in stolen goods as a result of 211 investigations, which led to the arrest of 383 suspects. In March alone, the ORCTF, which is spearheaded by the California Highway Patrol, recovered $2,134,742 in stolen assets and collared 174 criminals.

Since the ORCTF was established in 2019, it has conducted 3,700 investigations into retail theft incidents, leading to the arrest of about 4,200 suspects. Solving these crimes led to the recovery of 1.3 million stolen goods valued at $56 million.

With retail crime on the rise in California since the pandemic, Governor Gavin Newsom in 2023 made the state’s largest investment to date in bolstering law enforcement capabilities across the state. A whopping $267 million was funneled into 55 local law enforcement agencies to up technological capacities and train and hire officers.

Those investments are now bearing fruit; last month, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s (LASD) ORCTF, along with collaborating agencies, took down a retail theft ring that boosted $4 million in merchandise from retailers like Target, Nordstrom and TJ Maxx.

An analysis of Real Time Crime Index data by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that property crime dropped by 8.5 percent and violent crime dropped by 4.6 percent in 2024, with burglary and larceny also decreasing by 13.6 percent and 18.6 percent respectively from 2019 levels. yahoo.com

   RELATED: Prop. 36 triggers retail theft crackdown in Southern California


Passing On the Cost of Theft to Businesses?
Cost of a vendor's license doubles - but for good cause
Last week, the cost to apply for a new vendor's license in Ohio jumped from $25 to $50 to help law enforcement take a bite out of organized retail theft harming both retailers and consumers.

The additional $25 from both county vendor's licenses and transient vendor's licenses will go to Ohio's Organized Crime Investigations Commission to investigate retail theft activity, including cargo theft and any complaint received involving retail theft, according to a summary of House Bill 366, which took effect April 9, provided by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

Moreover, the newly enacted legislation creates the offense of organized theft of retail property and specifies the crime generally as a third degree felony but allows for it to escalate as high as a first degree felony depending on the value of the property purloined and other circumstances, the summary shows.

The new law also enhances penalties for repeat theft offenders, setting a minimum fourth-degree felony charge for thefts committed by individuals who have a felony-theft conviction within the previous three years.

According to the legislation summary, any person engaged in making retail sales subject to sales tax is required to have a vendor's license. Application for a vendor's license must be made to the county auditor of each county in which the applicant wants to engage in business. dailystandard.com


Walmart Mass Shooter Pleads Guilty
Man who fatally shot 23 at El Paso Walmart set to plead guilty to murder nearly 6 years on
The long-running criminal case against a Texas gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack targeting Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in El Paso in 2019 is on the verge of coming to a close.

Patrick Crusius, 26, is expected to plead guilty Monday to capital murder and receive a sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole for the massacre near the U.S.-Mexico border. El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya said last month he was offering Crusius a plea deal and that he wouldn’t face the death penalty on the state charge.

Crusius has already been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in federal court after pleading guilty in 2023 to hate crime and weapons charges. Under the Biden administration, federal prosecutors also took the death penalty off the table.

Crusius is expected to serve his time in a state prison. Crusius initially was arrested by local authorities and will enter the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice if he is sentenced on the state charges, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. apnews.com


Video: Cracking down on retail theft in Maryland
 

Threat Group Hits Supermarket Operator, Steals Data
Ahold Delhaize confirms data stolen after threat group claims credit for November attack

A highly active threat group says it will release stolen information, months after an attack disrupted e-commerce operations at the grocer’s U.S. business.

Ahold Delhaize confirmed Thursday that certain files from its U.S. operations were stolen in a November cyberattack after a threat group claimed credit for the incident.

The threat group, tracked as Inc Ransom, claimed in a Wednesday post on its leak site to have up to 6 TB of sensitive data from the Netherlands-based supermarket operator’s U.S. division and threatened to release the information if its demands are not met, according to researchers at Arctic Wolf. The attackers have not said what those demands are.

“Since the incident was detected, our teams have been working diligently to determine what information may have been affected,” Ahold Delhaize USA said in a statement.

Ahold Delhaize added that it is working with outside forensics experts to confirm what information was taken and will disclose that information to affected individuals in accordance with legal obligations. The company said it has also notified and updated law enforcement on the matter.

The attack disrupted e-commerce operations at Ahold Delhaize USA’s Hannaford banner and also impacted certain pharmacy and e-commerce operations elsewhere in the U.S. Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. business includes Giant Food, Stop & Shop, Food Lion and The Giant Company in addition to Hannaford.

Hannaford, which runs nearly 200 supermarkets in four Northeastern states, was forced to halt pickup and delivery orders for several days because of the incident, which it described at the time as a “cybersecurity issue.” cybersecuritydive.com


Microsoft's 'Secure Future Initiative'
Microsoft strengthens in-house cyber governance, training

The technology giant, as part of its Secure Future Initiative program, has overhauled security practices following a series of crippling nation-state-linked cyberattacks.

Microsoft Corp. on Monday said it has reached additional milestones in a multiyear effort to strengthen its product development, threat detection and corporate governance structure under a program called the Secure Future Initiative.

The company has now rolled out a secure-by-design toolkit to 22,000 employees involved in product development, linked employee performance reviews to adoption of security standards and named a deputy CISO for business applications, among other changes.

“We have made progress across culture and governance by fostering a security-first mindset in every employee and investing in holistic governance structures to address cybersecurity risk across our enterprise,” Charlie Bell, executive vice president, security at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post.

Out of 28 objectives outlined in the SFI plan, which was first announced in 2023, the company said it is near completion on five and has made significant progress on 11.

Among the new SFI developments:

• About 92% of employee productivity accounts are now using phishing-resistant multifactor authentication.

• The company now has a 73% success rate in addressing cloud vulnerabilities under its reduced time-to-mitigate window. Microsoft did not specify what the new time frame is.

• The company has removed more than 6.3 million legacy tenants, including more than 550,000 since September 2024. cybersecuritydive.com

Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act
Bill extends cyber threat info-sharing between public, private sector

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, set to expire in September, “moved the needle.”

Two federal lawmakers today introduced a bipartisan bill that preserves key regulation that facilitates the sharing of cyber-threat data between private companies and the federal government.

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Extension Act, introduced by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Mike Rounds (R-SD), would extend provisions of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, which is due to expire in September. The law encourages businesses to share information about ongoing cybersecurity threats with the federal government and is one of few legislative actions that has actually had an impact on real-world cybersecurity, security experts said.

Specifically, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 gives incentives to companies to voluntarily share cybersecurity threat indicators, such as software vulnerabilities, malware or malicious IP addresses, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It does this by providing legal protections for companies that do so by providing federal antitrust exemptions and precluding them from being held accountable for state and federal disclosure laws. cybersecuritydive.com


Lemonade says applicant driver’s license numbers exposed

Contra Costa County, CA: East Bay gang members face 33 felonies related to multimillion-dollar theft ring
Eleven gang members of an Antioch-Pittsburg street gang face 33 felony charges for conspiracy, personal property theft, second-degree burglary and other crimes that helped create a multimillion-dollar theft ring, Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton’s Office said. Three of the charges allege that 11 members of the gang worked together to steal merchandise from Sunglass Hut locations in Concord, Walnut Creek, San Ramon and Brentwood. The gang members also stole tobacco products from delivery trucks in Pleasant Hill, Bay Point and Pittsburg, and other items from Chanel, Nordstrom and Alo Yoga in Walnut Creek, the DA’s office said. The thefts took place between September 3, 2024, and April 2, 2025. Charges were filed against the 11 suspects in Contra Costa Superior Court on April 17. The gang members are also suspected to have been involved in numerous robberies, vehicle thefts and police pursuits in the Bay Area. “On March 27, 2025, Robert Crawford and three other individuals allegedly stole crates of tobacco products from a 7-Eleven in Pleasant Hill,” a statement from Becton’s office reads. “After leaving the scene, Crawford evaded police in a vehicle, ultimately losing control and crashing through a fence at Fremont Elementary School in Antioch. All four occupants fled the scene but were soon apprehended by law enforcement.” The felony charges filed against the 11 suspects come with added penalties for “street terrorism,” “taking property in concert,” and taking property with a value greater than $50,000. Eight of the suspects are currently in custody at the Contra Costa County Jail and are awaiting arraignment. The combined bail of the suspects is nearly $22 million.  kron4.com


San Antonio, TX: Smoke shop in the Dominion robbed of more than $50K worth of merchandise
More than $50,000 worth of merchandise was stolen from Hazel Sky Smoke Shop in the Dominion after a group of nearly a dozen people broke into the store early Monday morning, according to the owner. Surveillance footage shows more than 10 people ransacking the store early Monday morning. One person appeared to use a four-by-four plank with nails or metal spikes to shatter the front door’s glass, while others casually waited outside before rushing in. The robbery lasted around 11 minutes. The owner, Makram Hijaz, said he watched the burglary live on his security cameras. “If I lived across the street, I could have been here,” Hijaz said. “But there was just nothing I could do, just sit there and watch on the screen. It was the most hopeless feeling.”  ksat.com


Polk County, FL: 5 undocumented immigrants with gang ties arrested, charged in liquor theft ring
A Polk County Sheriff's Office investigation has led to the arrest of five undocumented immigrants on charges of having an organized retail theft ring stealing high-end liquors in Central Florida. Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said Publix Supermarkets' Retail Crime Unit first contacted his office in October 2024 noticing a pattern of high-end liquors being stolen from its stores. Over the past six months, the investigation grew to encompass 32 cases and four other law enforcement agencies including the Orange County and Osceola County Sheriff Offices and Lakeland Police Department. The group is accused of theft and robberies along the Interstate 4 corridor from Jacksonville, Orlando, Apopka, Kissimmee and Lakeland across to Tampa, with an estimated value of over $30,000, Grady said.  theledger.com


Contra Costa Criminal Street Gang Charged In Regional Crime Spree
Eleven members of an Antioch-Pittsburg criminal street gang are accused of conspiracy, grand theft, second-degree robbery and multiple other offenses related to the theft of millions of dollars in merchandise, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office said Friday. A 33-count complaint was filed Thursday in Contra Costa Superior Court alleging that between September 2024 and April 2, the gang members worked together to steal merchandise from Sunglass Hut locations in Concord, Walnut Creek, San Ramon and Brentwood. They are also believed to be responsible for armed robberies of tobacco delivery trucks in Pleasant Hill, Bay Point and Pittsburg, as well as thefts from Chanel, Nordstrom and Alo Yoga in Walnut Creek, the DA's Office said.  patch.com


Sunnyvale, CA: $20K worth of stolen Dick’s Sporting Goods merchandise recovered in South Bay
Approximately $20,000 worth of stolen merchandise from Dick’s Sporting Goods was recovered over the weekend, the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety (SDPS) announced Monday. Two people were arrested in connection to the theft that happened on Saturday at the store on El Camino Real. SDPS officers were dispatched to Dick’s Sporting Goods about a shoplifting in progress. Authorities learned that an unidentified male and female suspect tried to steal $2,000 worth of merchandise from the store, the law enforcement agency said. Officers were able to arrest the suspects at the scene.  aol.com


Highlands Ranch, CO: $10,000 worth of tires, wheels stolen from dealership
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said around $10,000 worth of wheels and tires were stolen from a dealership in Highlands Ranch. The sheriff’s office said a deputy was patrolling in a dealership parking lot at 1000 Plum Valley Ln. in Highlands Ranch on Sunday evening when he spotted a “suspicious” U-Haul. Deputies said the truck was loaded with around $10,000 of wheels and tires taken from a locked storage cage behind the dealership. Deputies said the suspects fled the scene before they could make contact. Just afterward, the sheriff’s office said they received a report of two males trying to break into vehicles at a nearby hotel on Plaza Drive. They said drones and K-9s were brought in for assistance. The sheriff’s office said one suspect was found in the lobby of the hotel, and the second tried to flee but was caught by deputies. Deputies said they subsequently found a U-Haul key inside one of the suspect’s pockets, and it was confirmed that suspect rented the truck.  kktv.com


Schenectady, NY: Three arrested in $18,000 Schenectady retail stolen property case

Wyomissing, PA: Wyomissing Police link suspect to organized retail theft ring

Vernon, CT: Theft Suspects Caught With Thousands In Stolen Goods In Vernon

Cullman, AL: 3 Birmingham residents charged with organized retail theft in Cullman