Via Wikimedia Commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
By Julie McCaffrey and Cici Jiang
GLENDALE, CA – California Attorney General Rob Bonta last week announced the arrests of three individuals who allegedly stole more than $75,000 in merchandise from multiple Home Depots throughout the state.
The AG said this was a statewide organized retail theft operation that began in October 2021, and involved merchandise stolen from Home Depots in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.
Bonta explained that last week multiple search and arrest warrants were served throughout Southern California by The California Highway Patrol’s Southern Division Organized Retail Crime Task Force with assistance from CHP’s Border Division. 
The suspects face charges of organized retail theft, grand theft and receiving stolen property, along with multiple felony charges.
“Brazen criminal activity, such as the organized retail theft operation we have taken down today, will not be tolerated in California. With these charges, we’re moving forward to hold these defendants accountable,” said Bonta.
AG Bonta noted organized retail theft is not unusual as a crime, and he is collaborating with law enforcement partners to end it.
Along with the arrest and charges of the Home Depot suspects, in 2023 Attorney General Bonta also announced charges against a group of individuals that allegedly stole an approximately $1 million in merchandise.
“Organized retail theft costs businesses, retailers, and consumers – and puts the public at risk,” said Bonta, referencing a 2020 national survey showing U.S. retailers lose about $700,000 per every $1 billion sales to organized crime. 
