Organized retail crime bill signed by New York Governor
State Assemblyman Michael Cusick announced Thursday that Governor Cuomo has signed his bill, designed to combat organized retail crime. “Organized retail theft has grown exponentially in the past decade,” Cusick said. “My legislation gives the authorities the upper hand in prosecuting these crimes by allowing all charges to be heard in one venue.” Organized retail theft refers to a varitety of schemes that involve stolen and repackaged goods that are sold back into the marketplace and then moved across county and city lines in an effort to avoid prosecution. These schemes cost United States retailers about $30 billion a year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Cusick’s bill is the first time the phrase “organized retail crime” will be featured in the New York State statute, and aims to make it easier for prosecutors to try these cases. Several prominent retail and business leaders joined Cusick to praise the signing of the bill… [NY Assembly]
Police find giant heroin-selling operation behind secret door inside Brooklyn candy shop
The Gates Candy & Grocery in Bushwick advertises cold soda, ice cream and coffee on its green awning. But behind a secret door disguised as a shelf, cops found a massive heroin-selling hub, according to police. State Finance Department officers found the door during an inspection for untaxed cigarettes Wednesday night, and on Thursday, cops swarmed the store, located on Gates Ave. at St. Nicholas Ave. Inside, they found a truckload and a half of drugs and packing material, police said — including more than a million glassine envelopes, typically used to package heroin, stuffed into 50 boxes. Cops found several ziplock bags of suspected heroin, two full barrels of cutting agent, and several blue bags of what police believe to be fentanyl — a powerful prescription painkiller often used to cut and enhance heroin, police said. Police took their haul to a lab for testing… [NY Daily News]
400 iPads stolen from Amherst store
Police in Amherst, NY say thieves stole 400 iPads from a Best Buy store. Best Buy employees discovered the break-in when they showed up for their shifts around 6:30 Friday morning. Amherst Police Detective Lieutenant Rick Walter says the crime was very well planned out and very well orchestrated. “The suspects actually used a high lift type vehicle referred to as a sky lift which lifts workers to higher places. It was being used at a construction site close to Best Buy to get themselves onto the roof,” says Walter. From there, Walter says the thieves cut through the roof, then used a ladder to get into the store. Once there, they stole 400 iPads valued at more than $90,000.
“We don’t feel it’s an inside job at all. What we feel is it was very well planned, as a matter of fact, we’re conferring with police departments in Erie, Pennsylvania. I just recently found out also that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania also had a very similar crime at a Best Buy. So we feel at this point that all three may possibly be related,” says Walter… [NBC News]
Man Sentenced to 70 Years in Prison for Retail Theft Scheme, Child Pornography, and Witness Tampering Charges
Bradley J. Prucha, 39, of West Des Moines, Iowa, was sentenced by Chief United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey to a total of 840 months, or 70 years, in federal prison for executing a multistate retail theft scheme, producing and possessing child pornography, distributing Xanax to minors, and attempting to bribe minor witnesses to change their trial testimony, announced United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. Prucha was the leader of a retail theft scheme printing UPC bar code stickers, and then placing the stickers on items in stores so they would ring up at a lower price. He then returned the items to stores for their full price, or sold them online through eBay, Craigslist, or directly to bulk buyers. Prucha committed the thefts between Florida and Iowa, where he maintained separate residences, 2 and in Nebraska and Illinois.
At trial, witnesses described how Prucha recruited adults and teenagers to place stickers on items, purchase them for the fraudulent price, and make the returns so as to avoid detection himself. At the time Prucha orchestrated and executed his retail bar coding scam, he was on probation for having committed a nearly identical bar code switching scheme in Florida. Prucha admitted to committing the bar code fraud scheme during his trial testimony. The evidence at trial also established Prucha used teenage girls to commit thefts for him, and paid the girls to have sex with him using proceeds from the scheme as well as Xanax. A former inmate at the Polk County Jail also testified that Prucha directed him to offer money to the minor witnesses for them to sign false affidavits, which would have contradicted their statements and the evidence in the case… [U.S. Department of Justice]
SF cops hunting 2 thieves in $500K Union Square jewelry heist
A pair of thieves broke into a jewelry store in San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood early Thursday morning and stole over $500,000 worth of gold chains and bracelets before fleeing in a Ford sedan, police said Friday. At least one of the crooks was caught on security cameras using bolt cutters to destroy the lock and break through the back door of Grace Jewelry on the 100 block of O’Farrell Street at 3:44 a.m., said the store’s owner, Peng Zhou. The thief could then be seen entering the store with a bag and a sledge hammer and systematically going from counter to counter smashing through the glass and scooping up the jewelry, Zhou said.“From what we could tell, he was very targeted. He knew exactly where he was going,” Zhou said. “We have about 27 cases. He went for the men’s gold chains, bracelets and pendants. And then men’s diamond pieces. He did not touch anything else. Still images of the two suspects and the Ford sedan used in the crime were taken from security camera footage…” [SF Gate]
LP Worldwide: Credit card skimming at Calgary gas stations leads to arrests
Police are asking Calgarians to check their credit card statements for unusual charges after arresting two men accused of stealing 500 credit card numbers a month at gas stations. Officers say credit card skimming devices were placed on gas pumps throughout Calgary in at least 38 different gas stations. Police investigating reports of the devices searched two homes Wednesday and uncovered what they are describing as a credit card and identification counterfeiting lab, along with $150,000 worth of high-end clothing and merchandise. “This included hand tools and paint to create overlays, pinpad keys, cash, a track two data reader and encoder, and samples of fraudulent credit cards and counterfeit identification,” police said in a press release. “The merchandise includes items from Breitling, Holt Renfrew, Burberry, Nordstrom, Prada, Gucci, Canada Goose, Apple and Go Pro.” Police also found a list of 38 gas stations and have made sure those businesses no longer have credit card skimming devices on pumps. The two menwere charged with 39 offences, including mischief to property and data, forgery and possession of fraudulent credit cards… [CBC News]
Regular customer fingered in $18,000 pet store theft
Following up on a story from last week, an Omaha pet store owner says his stolen snakes have been returned. Don Everson said that the eight ball pythons all seemed to be in good health. They and several frozen rats were taken from his store. The loss was estimated at around $18,000. Everson told police he thought he recognized the thief on security video. The man lives in Harlan and had visited the store several times over the past six months. Officers went to see the man, which led to the snakes’ return. The man’s name hasn’t been released. It’s unclear whether he’s been charged… [CBS News]
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