$300K In Stolen Big Box Store Merchandise Seized; 4 Arrested: LA Sheriff's Department

LITTLEROCK, CA — Authorities recently made four arrests and seized about $300,000 in merchandise stolen from hardware stores and other big box retailers, according to police.

The arrests followed an investigation of retail thefts that occurred between Dec. 14, 2023, and Jan. 7, 2024, at Home Depot, Lowes, Target and Walmart stores across the Antelope Valley, police said Friday.

Three people worked together to commit the thefts and a fourth ran a resale operation out of an address on 94th Street East in Littlerock, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The first three people were arrested on suspicion of organized retail theft and grand theft, police said, adding two of those people were also charged with being a felon who had a gun. The fourth person was arrested on suspicion of running a fence operation, according to police.

The stolen items included tools, yard equipment, generators, clothes, air conditioner compressors and more, police said, adding authorities also seized two handguns.

The arrests were the result of a probe by the department's Organized Retail Theft Taskforce, according to police. Anyone with information about the case is asked to email orctf@lasd.org or call 562-946-7270.