The Sheriff’s Office in Buncombe County, North Carolina has charged 14 suspects with felony organized retail theft and recovered more than 4,000 stolen items from an area pawn shop.
Two of the people charged owned the pawn shop, and two others were employees. Most of the recovered items came from Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, and Sportsman’s Warehouse stores in the county.
A final count of the cost of all of the items has not been finalized, but the sheriff’s office said it will significantly exceed their original estimate of $125,000 to $150,000.
The Asheville Police Department, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and Sheriff’s Office have been working together on the investigation.
“This remains an active investigation with multiple detectives at the sheriff’s office focused solely on this organized theft ring,” Captain Angie Tullis of the Criminal Investigations Division at the Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. “This will likely take weeks to complete as we continue to gather additional information.”