Sacramento deputies arrest, cite almost 100 in retail theft bust

Sacramento deputies arrested or ticketed almost 100 people in connection with retail theft over the weekend, some of them children, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

The operation targeting organized retail theft was at three Target stores in the county, the sheriff’s office said. During this time, of the 96 people arrested and cited on shoplifting and theft-related charges, 10 were booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail.

The ages of the people arrested or cited ranged from 11 to 62 years old, the sheriff’s office said. There was one case when two people used an empty baby carrier concealed with a blanket to make it seem like there was a sleeping child in the carrier; there were stolen items instead.

“There was no child. It’s all part of the game,” said Det. Andy Cater. “The officers found the car seat was completely empty, just another place where they were storing stolen goods.”

Two of the thefts were so brazen that the people involved took items from the store while there were marked sheriff’s patrol vehicles in front of the exit doors. Cater said one man wore a puffy, black coat with inside pockets cut out to store stolen stuff.

“When we were watching him on camera, you would see he would take five or six things and then see him turn around to shove his hands in the pockets and come back out and his hands were empty,” said Cater.

Cater said the suspect shoved $250 worth of product in the coat and they found another $500 worth of stolen products from a different store in his car.

Pictures shared by the sheriff’s office showed some of the items stolen, including beauty products, candies, plush animals, a stroller wagon still in its box and blankets.

In all, the sheriff’s office said deputies recovered more than $8,000 in stolen merchandise.

The organized retail theft task force plans to do more undercover operations with a $9.4 million grant from the governor’s office. It’s for the next three years.

“It’s so rampant, we can’t keep up and the retailers are losing their shirts, prices are driven up for you and I when go to buy it legitimately,” he said.

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