Suspect arrested in retail theft ring
Officials have arrested a suspect in connection to a large-scale retail theft ring in Sullivan, Indiana, involving over $4,500 of stolen goods. The suspect has been identified as Bryan Scott Tomey, 40, of Terre Haute, Indiana. Back in October, Tomey had been seen inside the Sullivan Walmart by loss prevention staff removing a child car seat from its box. Tomey then stuffed the box with electronics and other expensive merchandise. Tomey then had an accomplice take the loot-filled box through the checkout register and the entire incident was captured on surveillance video. Items stolen from Sullivan Walmart exceeded $4,721.
He was tracked down late Thursday and arrested at the Super 8 Motel, near Honey Creek Mall in Terre Haute. Detective Ron Elliott worked with Vigo County detectives in identifying Tomey. He is also reportedly banned from all Walmart properties due to multiple theft cases, according to Walmart officials. Tomey has an extensive criminal history throughout Indiana. Tomey is currently secured in the Sullivan County Jail under $8,000 bond with 10% allowed. He is also being held for Dubois County on a warrant for Theft. No bond is allowed in that case. The identity of Tomey’s accomplice is not being released at this time, however, the investigation is ongoing. [Source: MyWabashValley]
Employee accused of stealing $4,000 by faking returns to store
A woman in Geat Falls, Montana, is accused of stealing approximately $4,000 by faking returns at Sears Home Store. On November 15th, Great Falls Police Officers were dispatched to Sears Home Store for an embezzlement complaint. When police arrived, they contacted a Sears loss prevention associate who reported a number of fraudulent returns to the store. According to charging documents, Sears loss prevention had discovered seven items had been returned to the store that had never been sold at any Sears Store with the names listed on the return slip. The returns totaled $3,782.69. The police report states when an employee does a return at the store, they are supposed to use an employee identification number that is assigned to them and six of the seven returns were done using Michelle Amato’s employee identification number. Court documents say during those six returns, Amato was the only employee working at the store at that time. Amato was reportedly terminated from Sears before the seventh return was done because of a failed background check. She has prior convictions for Felony Criminal Distribution of Dangerous Drugs, Felony Theft, Felony Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Misdemeanor Theft of Labor or Services, and Misdemeanor Criminal Possession of Dangerous Drugs. Amato is charged with one count of Theft (Embezzlement Common Scheme) and the State has requested her bond be set in the amount of $10,000. [Source: ABC FOX Montana]
Illinois men get lengthy prison terms for string of cellphone store holdups around Midwest
Two south suburban Chicago men have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their role in a string of armed cellphone store robberies in the Chicago area and around the Midwest, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in southern Indiana. Jeffrey A. Kemp, 41, of Dolton, was sentenced to 32 years and Lawrence D. Adkinson, 28, of Hazel Crest, was sentenced to nearly 29 years after being convicted by a jury in southern Indiana in August of conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to brandish a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, robbery, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, the U.S. attorney said in a news release Thursday. The men had used violence “to terrorize retail store employees around the Midwest,” Josh Minkler, the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Indiana, said. In the Chicago area, cellphone stores in Joliet and Orland Park were among those robbed during a series of holdups in the summer and fall of 2015, with the spree also targeting stores in Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri, according to the U.S. attorney. Eight other men previously pleaded guilty in connection with the robberies, but Kemp and Adkinson were described by authorities as the leaders of the group, supply vehicles and guns and deciding which stores would be robbed and who would commit the robberies. [Source: Daily Southtown]
Two Miami men get prison for hijacking truckloads of copper wire
Two Miami men were each sentenced to more than four and a half years in prison for hijacking truckloads of copper wire and other copper products.One of the primary targets of Yosvani Castillo and Rodolfo Arteaga Oliva was Southwire Company LLC in Carrollton, federal prosecutors in Rome, Ga., said. Southwire is a leading North American manufacturer of wire and cable used in the distribution and transmission of electricity. Castillo and Oliva pled guilty earlier to hijacking the goods. According to U.S. Attorney Byung “BJay” Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court:
On several occasions, defendants Castillo and Oliva drove from Miami to Carrollton, and conducted surveillance on tractor-trailers as they left the Southwire facility to deliver copper products to customers across the country. In addition to Southwire, the defendants also targeted truckloads leaving the Hussey Copper company in Pennsylvania. The defendants followed the trucks until the drivers pulled over for a stop, often after hundreds of miles of driving. They would then steal the entire truck and trailer, sometimes transferring the copper into a different trailer they brought with them to avoid detection. They drove the load back to Miami where Castillo arranged to sell the copper for below-market value to a metal recycler. [Source: Chicago Tribune]
Serial shoplifter gets “outrageous” prison term
Jared Lee Martinez of Tubac went on a shoplifting spree in which he was caught four times in a little more than three months, including three times at the Walmart in Nogales, Arizona. He pleaded guilty to three offenses and called the 2.5-year prison term he received for them “outrageous.” Court documents show that Martinez was caught March 22 by Walmart security personnel for stealing two Razor hover boards, priced at $298 each. Loss prevention associates discovered that Martinez had been caught shoplifting at the store on Jan. 7, at which time he had signed an affidavit vowing not to go onto Walmart property.
It was also discovered that he had been previously caught shoplifting at a Walmart in Colorado, according to his court file. The next day, on March 23, Martinez was caught trying to steal a cart full of laundry detergent from Food City. Then on April 19, he was busted once again at the Nogales Walmaart trying to shoplift five bottles of vodka and a 12-pack of soda. Martinez, 29, was sentenced Oct. 30 by Judge Thomas Fink of Santa Cruz County Superior Court for convictions on two counts of organized retail theft, a Class 4 felony, and one count of shoplifting with an artifice, a Class 4 felony. The judge gave him 2.5 years in prison for each count, with the sentences to be served concurrently. During a pre-sentencing interview on Oct. 5, Martinez reportedly told a probation officer that he steals to pay for an addiction. “I did commit the crime, so therefore I deserve punishment,” he told the officer. “As for 2.5 years in prison, I think it’s outrageous.” [Source: Nogales International]
J.B. Hunt, Walmart order Tesla Semi truck hours after release
Tesla Motors on Thursday unveiled a new, electric semi-truck with a 500-mile range, autopilot and “convoy” (or platooning) capabilities, marking the automaker’s entry into the truck manufacturing market. A Tesla Semi can be reserved for $5,000 per truck, with production starting in 2019. Tesla claims owners can expect “$200,000 or more” in fuel cost savings alone by transitioning to the electric vehicle, and is ideal for short-haul trucking, considering 80% of U.S. freight moves within a 250-mile range. Just hours after the vehicle’s launch event, J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced it had reserved “multiple Tesla semi tractors,” and had plans to deploy the vehicles in the West Coast upon delivery and would be used for local and dray routes. Walmart also joined the mix, announcing Friday it would also test the new trucks in the U.S. and Canada. [Source: SupplyChainDIVE]
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