Visit to Pawn America Leads to Felony Retail Theft Charge

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a 31-year-old West Allis man accused of stealing nearly $1,000 in electronics from Best Buy in Greenfield and pawning them off the next day.

According to the criminal complaint, Juan Daniel Rodriguez-Lopez is accused of shoplifting a $500 camcorder, $300 headphones and a $100 GPS unit from Best Buy, 4610 S. 76th St., Feb. 5. An employee found packaging for the items. The employee then saw a man on surveillance video, later identified as Rodriguez-Lopez, carry the items into a corner of a store and return from the corner without any boxes.

Greenfield police checked the state record-keeping system to determine if the items were pawned and found that they were at Pawn America in West Allis on Feb. 6. The seller was identified as Rodriguez, who received $325 for the items after telling the pawnshop he had owned them for 1 year and 2 months.

One count of felony retail theft was filed against Rodriguez-Lopez, who has criminal records in Illinois, Iowa and California, in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on March 8. His whereabouts, however, are unknown.

If you have any information that could lead to the arrest of Rodriguez-Lopez, call the Greenfield Police Department at 414-761-5300.