West Sacramento police arrest three suspects in string of organized retail thefts
Police in West Sacramento arrested three suspects earlier this month in connection with numerous retail thefts across the region, and also recovered large quantities of stolen alcohol and over-the-counter cold medicine this week.
Officers first responded to a theft at a Home Depot store and determined that a trio of suspects “were responsible for multiple thefts throughout the region from Home Depot, Lowe’s, Safeway, Raley’s/Bel Air, Rite Aid and CVS stores,” the West Sacramento Police Department said in a Friday news release.
Special investigations detectives began surveillance, and contacted the suspects as they were loading stolen merchandise into a vehicle, according to the news release.
Detectives connected the three suspects to “a total of no less than 20 individual thefts” with losses totaling more than $6,000, police said.
The suspects, who were not identified in the release, were arrested and booked into the Yolo County jail on charges including organized retail theft and robbery, authorities said.
Then, this week, the Police Department said it served a warrant at a “known fence location” for the three suspects’ stolen property.
“The search located 678 bottles of alcohol and 406 bottles of over the counter liquid cold medication, along with numerous other over the counter medication,” the department wrote.
Police contacted the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and agents responded for assistance with evidence collection and to address liquor law violations.
The arrests come as law enforcement agencies around the region look to crack down on organized retail theft.
In mid-December, Yolo County prosecutors filed felony charges against a 19-year-old and 18-year-old suspect from Antioch, who were accused of stealing more than $1,200 in merchandise from Walgreens and CVS stores in Woodland and Davis on the same day.
