BEL AIR, Md. — Captured on camera---three people in the middle of what appeared to be a shopping spree at the Walmart store in Fallston last week snapping up 1,800 dollars’ worth of merchandise, but Major Lee Dunbar of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office says they had no intention of paying for the goods.
WATCH: Retail theft crackdown in Harford County
“Went in, loaded up their carts with electronics, some PlayStations, iPads. Went out to the point of sale there, the register, acted as if they were going to pay for the items and then left the store,” said Major Lee Dunbar of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, “Loss prevention was aware of this, but thankfully due to a Good Samaritan and a good citizen who was seeing this happen was able to provide us with a license plate number.”
And it’s not just an isolated case like this one.
Police have also cracked an organized retail theft ring, which was targeting some major department stores.
Six people who struck at the Kohl’s locations in both Forest Hill and Bel Air on multiple occasions before investigators track them down.
“We did search warrants on there. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to recover all of the stolen property, but we were able to recover a ghost gun and several other weapons that were found in the house as well,” said Dunbar.
Investigators say retail theft is so prevalent that retailers’ loss prevention teams are now sharing data from multiple states, which has set the stage for a potential third major bust that’s about to unfold.
“There was one particular group. We got hit here in Harford County,” said Dunbar, “Once we uploaded that information in a data base, we found out that they were wanted for multiple thefts from Florida all the way up to New York.”
For now, detectives have issued an arrest for one suspect in the Walmart caper, but are still trying to identify two others.
If you recognize them, you can call Deputy Filarecki at 410-692-7880.
