Court documents explain how police say an Indianapolis, Indiana, man ran a million-dollar shoplifting scam. Hamilton County prosecutors say the crimes spanned several counties and had been going on for years.
Police believe the suspect, Ryan Walker, would swap UPC bar codes on high-dollar items at stores like Target and Walmart. After paying pennies on the dollar, Walker would allegedly turn around and sell those same items on eBay for significantly more than he paid.
In one example, the accused thief walked to the toy aisle at the Target on Michigan road in Carmel and picked up a Lego Star Wars set worth $169. Police say Walker slapped a fake bar code on the box and checked out for just over $20. Police claim that crime was duplicated countless times spanning nearly a decade at Target and Walmart stores in Carmel, Fishers, Avon and Plainfield, allowing Walker to pocket over $1 million. In another example of how the scam worked, prosecutors claim… WTKR3 News
