Is Shoplifting a Problem in Downers Grove? Police Reports Show It Might Be

Reports of retail theft have flooded the Downers Grove Police Department since early February, reports show.

About one in every 11 people shoplifts, according to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention. That tallies up to more than 10 million people in the past five years.

While stealing from stores isn’t usually premeditated, NASP’s website states, the “rush” felt from getting away with the crime often becomes addicting. According to drug addicts who also got hooked on retail theft, stealing can be just as enticing as drugs.

These are a handful of the recent shoplifting incidents in Downers Grove:

• Tavis J. Hoffmann, 44, was caught trying to steal candy bars, soda and a screwdriver from Home Depot the afternoon of Feb. 6. He reportedly was seen by employees at the Butterfield Road store picking up candy bars and putting them in his pocket, then moving to the lumber section of the store and stealing two coke bottles from a refrigerator there. An employee then saw Hoffmann grab a screwdriver and try to take it out of its packaging. He met up with two other people in the garden section of Home Depot before trying to leave in a white pick up, but employees caught him before he could leave. The items he tried to steal amounted to $23.51. Hoffmann was also found to be wanted on an FTA warrant from DeKalb County.
• Late in the afternoon of Feb. 4, Veronica Davila, 54, was wheeling a shopping cart of Savers merchandise from the store at 2900 Highland Avenue. She reportedly loaded the items into a silver Toyota SUV in the Savers parking lot before going back into the store and loading the cart up again. When employees asked her if she had any proof of purchase for the items, she ran to the door and out into the parking lot. She opened one of the SUV’s back doors and took out two purses and a cell phone case, which she admitted to stealing later that day. She was eventually released with a March 8 court date at the DuPage County courthouse.
• Another retail theft was reported from the Butterfield Road Home Depot at 11:20 a.m. on Feb. 8. Roger Ochoa, 22, reportedly walked into the store carrying a blue backpack and tire jack handle. He went to the hand tool section of the store and picked out a Husky 20-piece socket wrench set before walking ten aisles down away and putting the set into his backpack. Employees who saw this happen watched him leave Home Depot without paying for anything and stopped him before he could leave. After searching Ochoa’s backpack, a loss prevention agent didn’t find any other stolen merchandise but did find marijuana, according to police reports.
• James Lacey, 56, was arrested Feb. 3 after trying to steal a $20 HDMI cable from Fry’s Electronics. The store’s loss prevention agent said he’d seen Lacey make a purchase at the store, go to his car to drop it off, and then go back into the store. The agent was suspicious when Lacey went immediately to the audio/video cable section and took a woven braided HDMI cable from its display, tried to hide the fact that he was opening it and then stuffed the cable into his jacket pocket between gloves. According to NASP, most shoplifters will buy and steal in the same visit like Lacey did.

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