Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say home improvement stores, Walmart locations and grocery stores are being targeted by people making a living from shoplifting.
CMPD said Wednesday that its Organized Retail Theft Task Force recently worked with the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office to arrest Steven Vanderburg, who is accused of stealing $250,000-300,000 worth of power tools from Home Depot and Lowe’s Home Improvement stores. Vanderburg worked with five others to sell the stolen items at a discounted rate, police said.
Detective Anthony Finocchio says many suspects in cases like these are repeat offenders.
"If you look at the individuals that are committing these crimes, you can see that this isn’t their first rodeo," he said. "We deserve better. Our community deserves better. Our retailers deserve better as well."
Finocchio says that if people see $250 items being sold on Facebook Marketplace for $150, that could be a clue it was stolen.
"Something doesn’t seem right," Finocchio said. "Why wouldn't that individual just take that item back and get the full refund? Right? So the community needs to be aware of that stuff. They could possibly — not knowing — (be) buying stolen items."
CMPD said people should call 911 if they witness organized retail crimes and to not approach any person trying to flee a scene.
