WSJ: Home Depot Tracked a Crime Ring and Found an Unusual Suspect

[Cooked Crack]

Quote

For years, Robert Dell ran a drug recovery program at what was known as The Rock Community Church and Transformation Center in St. Petersburg, Fla. On the side, prosecutors say, Dell also ran an organized retail-crime ring.

 

The pastor had been working as a fence, the middleman buying stolen goods from thieves and reselling them for a profit, according to prosecutors. Dell was telling people who went to his recovery program to steal tools like drills and pin nailers from Home Depot stores all over Florida and drop them off at his home. Using the eBay account Anointed Liquidator, he sold $3 million of items online since 2016, Home Depot and a search warrant affidavit said.

 

Dell and four other people, including his wife and mother, were arrested in early August in Tampa, Fla., after a seven-month investigation in which Home Depot collaborated with Florida law enforcement. Dell is now facing charges including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and dealing in stolen property. 

 

Dell, 57 years old, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was released on bond in late September. An attorney for Dell declined to comment. 

Quote

Dell’s case highlights the challenges that retailers and law enforcement have in stamping out complex retail crime. Collaborations between the parties can take time, often years, to connect individual thefts to larger organizations or groups. 

 

As a result, companies dealing with a surge in thefts are putting more resources into their own retail-crime investigations. They are also seeking collaborations with police and resale platforms to stop people profiting from their stolen goods. Prosecutors across the country have said they are stepping up efforts to target fences.

Quote

Officers in June arrested the two suspects as they were exiting a Home Depot store with products that were believed to be stolen. One said she had been stealing items for about five years and that Dell would direct them to obtain specific products and would purchase the stolen merchandise. She also told law enforcement that there were other groups of people also working for Dell that she had encountered while dropping off goods at his residence. 

 

Dell initially paid them about $5,000 to $10,000 a day, but more recently they were getting only about $600 to $2,000 because they were unable to steal as many items, the woman told law enforcement. She said that she had been arrested before, and that Dell had posted bond payments for the pair and knew the merchandise was stolen.

Quote

EBay initially flagged Dell’s account internally for suspicious activity in 2017, Hardman said. And while sales continued for years, he said the issue never fell off the company’s radar. It wasn’t until 2021 that Home Depot investigators started gathering evidence that the goods that Dell was selling online might have come from boosters. 

 

Once there was enough evidence that linked the boosters to Dell, the information was presented to law enforcement and eBay shut down the account earlier this year, Hardman said.

 

After the suspects in Tampa were arrested, the number of thefts at Home Depot stores in the area have dropped, said Glenn of Home Depot. He said that thieves might be hitting other retailers if they think that the home-improvement giant is working with law enforcement. 

 

“Somebody else will rise up,” Glenn said, “and probably start doing this in the absence of this group that was busted.”

 

https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/home-depot-tracked-a-crime-ring-and-found-an-unusual-suspect-ed31f6e8?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

 

[Busch1724]

Hey he believes in God apparently, he's fine. 

[Renegade7]

I was hoping it was a racoon because they already have bandit masks...this isn't that far off...

Edited October 9, 2023 by Renegade7

[PleaseBlitz]

This cannot be true.  "One said she had been stealing items for about five years ... Dell initially paid them about $5,000 to $10,000 a day, but more recently they were getting only about $600 to $2,000 because they were unable to steal as many items."

 

So they were initially making up to $2.6 million per year (weekdays in a year x $10,000 per day) to steal stuff, and had been doing it for 5 years?    

[Cooked Crack]

13 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

This cannot be true.  "One said she had been stealing items for about five years ... Dell initially paid them about $5,000 to $10,000 a day, but more recently they were getting only about $600 to $2,000 because they were unable to steal as many items."

 

So they were initially making up to $2.6 million per year (weekdays in a year x $10,000 per day) to steal stuff, and had been doing it for 5 years?    

Seems like an exaggeration but I'm assuming they were only hitting up like 1-2 a week.

 

Quote

In early March, a loss-prevention investigator from the company identified two people leaving a store in Ruskin, Fla., carrying two cordless impact wrenches and cordless die grinders that they didn’t pay for, according to a search warrant affidavit. The investigator photographed the car they left in and provided the information to law enforcement. 

 

Agents from the Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Department conducted surveillance operations in April and May and identified the suspects visiting Home Depot stores in seven counties. The agents then saw the car drive to Robert Dell’s home, where the pair would drop off items inside a garage.

 

[Ball Security]

We’re going to see a pretty radical shift in retail. I think in about 10-15 years, the idea of going to a store to get goods will be similar to going out and buying a newspaper.

 

In the meantime, I think we’ll see stores adopt a “display and warehouse” model where access to inventory is restricted.

 

The tools and approaches for loss prevention are advancing. Go to the parking lot of the Woodbridge Lowe’s. They have an advanced license plate reader that monitors who is coming in and out of the parking lot. 
 

As easy and profitable as this story shows, retailers are getting to a point where shrinkage is getting too large to write off. (That’s a weird sentence) They’ll put pressure on lawmakers that will push the boundaries of privacy.

[Simmsy]

5 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

We’re going to see a pretty radical shift in retail. I think in about 10-15 years, the idea of going to a store to get goods will be similar to going out and buying a newspaper.

 

In the meantime, I think we’ll see stores adopt a “display and warehouse” model where access to inventory is restricted.

 

The tools and approaches for loss prevention are advancing. Go to the parking lot of the Woodbridge Lowe’s. They have an advanced license plate reader that monitors who is coming in and out of the parking lot. 
 

As easy and profitable as this story shows, retailers are getting to a point where shrinkage is getting too large to write off. (That’s a weird sentence) They’ll put pressure on lawmakers that will push the boundaries of privacy.

 

You're probably going to see more of the grocery pickup, which I hate doing. I don't mind the picking up part, but them subbing stuff out our just not putting what I want in my order is a no go. If they restrict what shoppers can buy in stores, they simply won't go to stores.

[EmirOfShmo]

14 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

We’re going to see a pretty radical shift in retail. I think in about 10-15 years, the idea of going to a store to get goods will be similar to going out and buying a newspaper.

 

In the meantime, I think we’ll see stores adopt a “display and warehouse” model where access to inventory is restricted.

 

The tools and approaches for loss prevention are advancing. Go to the parking lot of the Woodbridge Lowe’s. They have an advanced license plate reader that monitors who is coming in and out of the parking lot. 
 

As easy and profitable as this story shows, retailers are getting to a point where shrinkage is getting too large to write off. (That’s a weird sentence) They’ll put pressure on lawmakers that will push the boundaries of privacy.

 

History has a way of repeating itself...

 

Best Products Company, Inc., or simply Best, was a chain of American catalog showroom retail stores founded by Sydney and Frances Lewis in 1957 and formerly headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The company was in existence for four decades before closing all of their stores by February 1997 and completely liquidating by December 1998. At the time of their second bankruptcy filing in September 1996, the company operated 169 Best stores and 11 Best Jewelry stores in 23 states, as well as a nationwide mail-order service. When in operation, Best Products was traded on the NASDAQ exchange as "BESTQ".

...

Best employed the "catalog showroom" concept for many of its product offerings. Although some product categories (such as sporting goods and toys) were stocked in traditional self-serve aisles, the majority of products (notably consumer electronics, housewares, and appliances) were featured as unboxed display models. Customers were permitted to examine and experiment with these models, and if found to be desirable, they could be purchased by submitting orders to store personnel. Saleable versions of the merchandise (usually boxed and/or in its original packaging) would then be retrieved from storage and delivered to a customer service area for subsequent purchase.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Products

 

[The 12th Commandment]

7 minutes ago, EmirOfShmo said:

 

History has a way of repeating itself...

 

Best Products Company, Inc., or simply Best, was a chain of American catalog showroom retail stores founded by Sydney and Frances Lewis in 1957 and formerly headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The company was in existence for four decades before closing all of their stores by February 1997 and completely liquidating by December 1998. At the time of their second bankruptcy filing in September 1996, the company operated 169 Best stores and 11 Best Jewelry stores in 23 states, as well as a nationwide mail-order service. When in operation, Best Products was traded on the NASDAQ exchange as "BESTQ".

...

Best employed the "catalog showroom" concept for many of its product offerings. Although some product categories (such as sporting goods and toys) were stocked in traditional self-serve aisles, the majority of products (notably consumer electronics, housewares, and appliances) were featured as unboxed display models. Customers were permitted to examine and experiment with these models, and if found to be desirable, they could be purchased by submitting orders to store personnel. Saleable versions of the merchandise (usually boxed and/or in its original packaging) would then be retrieved from storage and delivered to a customer service area for subsequent purchase.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Products

 

I remember that outfit.  Used to ride my bike by there on Braddock Rd if memory serves.  Everything old is new again.

[PleaseBlitz]

59 minutes ago, Cooked Crack said:

Seems like an exaggeration but I'm assuming they were only hitting up like 1-2 a week.

 

I don't have a lot of personal experience, but my sense is that meth heads tend to not get their facts exactly right. 

[PokerPacker]

5 hours ago, The 12th Commandment said:

I remember that outfit.  Used to ride my bike by there on Braddock Rd if memory serves.  Everything old is new again.

I have vague recollections of going there as a kid and seeing the boxing coming down the conveyor belt from above.

[skinsmarydu]

7 hours ago, The 12th Commandment said:

I remember that outfit.  Used to ride my bike by there on Braddock Rd if memory serves.  Everything old is new again.

Yeah, my parents shopped there on the regular in the 80s. 

[tshile]

I don’t really go to stores anymore anyways. Only when I have to. So I’m ready for that future. 
 

it’s nuts how many stores hire armed guards (or pay for a local police detail) now. We have some even out here simply because national chains make it a policy for every store, to avoid accusations of selecting certain areas.

 

 

[Renegade7]

I go to stores mostly to window shop for stuff I plan to buy online or jus to distract the kids...

[Destino]

9 hours ago, PleaseBlitz said:

This cannot be true.  "One said she had been stealing items for about five years ... Dell initially paid them about $5,000 to $10,000 a day, but more recently they were getting only about $600 to $2,000 because they were unable to steal as many items."

 

So they were initially making up to $2.6 million per year (weekdays in a year x $10,000 per day) to steal stuff, and had been doing it for 5 years?    

Unless Home Depot was stocking gold bricks that number seems unlikely. though I have no doubt the numbers were high. Once thieves organize they can steal astonishing amounts in short order. . 

[skinsmarydu]

I'm too afraid of jail (because I've been there). 

Once when living in Savannah, the little dude that I always talked to didn't scan my case of water.  I went back, told him and paid for it. 

(He's a Naismith, yes from Sir's family, so I couldn't let it fall on him if the cameras had caught it.)