Suspect critically injured after being struck by vehicle during botched beer theft attempt
A Jacksonville, Florida, man was critically injured Sunday after being hit by a car after returning beer he allegedly stole from a nearby Family Dollar store, according to the sheriff’s office. The incident occurred sometime before 9 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of East State Street and North Newnan Street. Two men allegedly attempted to steal some beer from a Family Dollar but gave it back. One man ran across the street near the location and was struck by a car. The driver of that car is being cooperative, police said during a 10 p.m. news conference. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) initially tweeted the crash was fatal, but an official at the press conference stated it was a crash with life-threatening injuries. [Source: FirstCoast News]
Shoplifting suspect pulls gun on LP associates
A 17-year-old shoplifting suspect is accused of pulling a gun to get away from loss prevention associates at a Walmart in McComb, Mississippi, police said. The incident began about 7:15 a.m. Wednesday when someone reported seeing a man taking gym shorts from the men’s department and trying to hide them in a backpack, police said. When he tried to leave the store, two store security guards tried to detain him, but the man got away after he pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at the officers. The man jumped into the passenger seat of a 1999 Honda with an Amite County license plate and took off. Deputies with the Amite County Sheriff’s Department and Mississippi Highway Patrol troopers later found the Honda parked at a home in the 4000 block of New Hope Road in Gloster and towed it to the McComb Police Department, authorities said. The 18-year-old female driver was detained for questioning. Charles Connor Deschamps, 17, turned himself in to police after officers identified him as a the suspect in the case. Deschamps is charged with armed robbery and was being held Friday at the Pike County Jail on a $100,000 bond. [Source: WAPT16 News]
Employee charged for stealing from parking lot payment machines
A Gainesville Regional Airport employee was charged with stealing nearly $49,000 from the airport between April 2016 and March 2017, Gainesville Police said. Paul Adjan, 65, worked as the airport’s facilities manager during this time and stole $48,702 from the parking lot payment machines he was responsible for emptying, according to an arrest report. He was one of two people who had access to all three keys required to take cash out of the parking machines. Starting in April 2016, Adjan was responsible for collecting the money from the machines on Fridays and Mondays. While he did place Friday’s collection in a safe inside the airport’s office so that it could be deposited, Monday’s money was not accounted for after being collected. The parking machine creates a time stamp each time the cash is pulled and, based on the security badge swipe-in logs, Adjan was the only employee at the airport each time — even on a day he was supposed to be on vacation. Adjan told police he did not steal the money, according to the report. He was charged Feb. 5 with grand theft, money laundering and aggravated white-collar crime, according to court records. He was arrested Friday morning and taken to the Alachua County Jail, where he was released that afternoon on his own recognizance. [Source: The Independent Florida Alligator]
Two suspects caught on camera stealing auto parts [Viral Video]
The owners of an auto parts store in Chico, California, are hoping you can help catch some thieves. At about 2:30 Saturday afternoon two men walked into the “Pep Boys” on Mangrove Avenue. Security cameras captured them roaming around the store, hiding products in shelves for about a half hour. One man was distracting the employees, while another one was in the back. They ended up leaving through the store’s side door with about $700 worth of merchandise and another $700 worth of goods hidden in shelves. Store manager Daniel Leija said theft has become a big problem for both the store and the community. “My guys have to deal with this on a daily basis and I just want them to be safe as well as everybody else in the surrounding neighborhoods. They’re peeling out of here, who knows what speed, trying to get away and I got customers, kids, families, employees in the parking lot so that’s the biggest concern,” Leija said. Store owners say the thieves hide those items on shelves so they can grab them and run out the door. [Source: ActionNews Now12]
Shoplifters tested the water at one store before getting confident at another
Three people from out of state took power tools and other merchandise from Home Depot in Biloxi, Mississippi, and Lowe’s in D’Iberville, Mississippi. The two men and a woman, working together, shoplifted about $1,400 in Dewalt power tools and accessories from the Lowe’s store, D’Iberville Police Lt. Jason King said. Shoplifting more than $1,000 in merchandise is a felony. The police department’s Retail Crime Unit went to Lowe’s on Sangani Boulevard about 6:30 p.m. Saturday after a report of shoplifting. Workers said they saw the suspects trying to drive away from the parking lot, King said, and officers were able to stop them in a traffic stop. Brandon Lee Shackelford, 36, of Amarillo Texas, got out of the vehicle and ran, but was soon caught, King said. King identified the two in the vehicle as Andre Clarence McQuay and Heather Marie Parker, both 37 and from Mobile, Alabama. Officers found items reported to be stolen from both stores, King said. Harrison County Justice Court Judge Albert Fountain set a $25,000 bond for each of them on the shoplifting charge. They also each have a $1,000 bond on a charge of receiving stolen property. Anyone with information about the shoplifting incidents or similar incidents are asked to email a tip to MS CrimeStoppers or call the D’Iberville Police Department at 228-396-4252 or Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-877-787-5898. [Source: Sun Herald]
Man sentenced for ID theft and credit card fraud
A Maryland man was sentenced today to four years in prison for his role in a credit card fraud and identity theft scheme that stole over 5,000 credit card numbers and resulted in a loss of over $1.5 million. According to court documents, Alvin Serry, aka Blue, 24, was part of a years-long conspiracy that committed credit card fraud throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Members of the conspiracy would purchase stolen credit card numbers belonging to Americans from foreign-based criminal websites. Serry would then encode the stolen credit card numbers onto physical cards, provide those cards to a crew of individuals, and direct them to use the cards to make fraudulent purchases at retail stores using the credit card numbers of unsuspecting victims. Serry was twice caught in possession of stolen credit cards and thousands of dollars in cash, and is the fourth member of the conspiracy to be sentenced. Moussa Sy, Musa Kamara, and Maxx Tapp received sentences of 60, 37, and 12 months, respectively, for their roles in the scheme. Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Andrew W. Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander P. Berrang and Kellen S. Dwyer prosecuted the case. [Source: Alexandria News]
