Friday, May 01, 2009
Starlite, Star Not so Bright
Interesting window in the ongoing battle against property crime today from the Lakewood city manager's report ... Quoting the article ...
In September 2007, the Police Department’s Proactive Property Crimes Unit (PROAC) started an investigation into a subject that was paying boosters to steal DVDs from area retailers so that she could resell them at the Starlite Swap Meet. The subject was eventually identified and located. Several boosters were arrested during the past year who confirmed they were stealing DVDs for this subject but would not cooperate further with the investigation.
In March 2009, PROAC was able to identify a person that was willing to sell DVDs to the suspect, presenting them as stolen. The 150 plus DVDs needed for this operation were provided to us by Target Stores Investigation Division, who also assisted with video surveillance during the controlled exchanges. The PROAC unit secured a court order for body wires and audio surveillance was conducted as well.
The suspect was recorded ordering DVDs, telling them what stores to avoid and reminding the boosters to not get caught.
The investigation netted 3 search warrants, a residence, a vehicle and the swap meet location. The search warrants brought the recovery of over 1,500 DVDs still in the factory wrappers, and the suspect was arrested at the swap meet. This investigation revealed that the subject had cost area retailers between $800,000 to $1,200,000 in product loss and lost sales. The investigation is continuing into other subjects engaged in the same criminal activity based out of other retail locations in Lakewood.
The arrested subject was charged with Organized Retail Theft, Possession of Stolen Property and Trafficking in Stolen Property. The Prosecutor’s Office is also exploring the charge of Leading Organized Crime.
$800,000 to $1.2 MILLION? That's real money that belongs to business owners and companies for investment and payroll. It's good the priority in town is the battle against violent crime, but this goes to show crimes against businesses and property do real damage too.
