Four men arrested in connection with large-scale retail theft schemes

(WJAR) — Federal prosecutors said four Guatemalans stole a lot of pricey merchandise from stores across Southern New England.

Four men were charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and interstate transportation of stolen goods.

Marvin Estuardo Morales De Paz, 33, Abraham Dayger-Enrique, 24, Sebastian Lajuj-Soloman, 30, and Jonathan Josue Amperez-Perez, 31, are accused of being part of a scheme to steal and resell expensive products from home improvement stores and other retailers, according to Cunha.

NBC 10's Katie Benoit spoke to a law enforcement expert who says big ticket shoplifting is becoming a big problem for retailers.

Law enforcement raided a home and outbuildings on Hines Farm Road last week.

The U.S. attorney's office said the property was used by four men from Guatemala that are accused of targeting Kohl's and Home Depot stores more than 30 times.

They are accused of stealing and reselling products such as electrical wire, flooring, power tools and other pricy items, federal prosecutors said.

Experts said "steal to sell" scams are common.

"They wanna get dollar value for whatever it is the steal... Nobody needs a garage full of power tools, they try to bring it the place they can make that exchange as fast and easy as possible," University of New Haven criminal justice lecturer Daniel Maxwell said.

Photos from investigators show two of the men wheeling a woodchipper right out the door of the Johnston Home Depot last year without paying.

Big box stores usually have loss prevention units and cameras, but policies can differ from place to place.

"Police generally tell retailers do not engage with shop lifters in a situation that might involve something violent. Most stores kind of have a no contact policy in place, don't run up to somebody and say hey you're stealing say something like can I help you," Maxwell said.

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Police said the four men had prior arrests in multiple states. Court documents accuse the men of stealing $230,000 of goods since 2019.

"Retail theft is just a huge problem. they call it shrinkage and you know the kind of factor that into their budget but at some point they aren't going to be able to afford it all without passing on to the customers," Maxwell said.