(KRON) – Half of a retail theft organization that has shoplifted more than $300,000 worth of merchandise from various Bay Area T.J. Maxx stores was arrested, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office (SCCSO) announced Tuesday.
T.J. Maxx investigators informed the SCCSO in May about a group that was shoplifting items from the store, at times multiple times a day, and selling the items at a flea market. With the information, the sheriff’s office and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office began an investigation. Authorities said they used “various surveillance and investigative techniques to monitor the crew’s activities.”
Deputies identified 16 suspects, who they believed are connected with at least 80 thefts that have resulted in T.J. Maxx losing more than $53,000. The sheriff’s office also discovered four residences and a storage unit, where stolen property was being stored or trafficked.
With the Gilroy Police Department, the Mountain View Police Department and the DA’s office, Santa Clara deputies executed search warrants for all locations on Aug. 12 and arrested eight suspects.
- Christian Hernandez, 20
- Jazmine Sanchez Valencia, 23
- Esmeralda Hernandez Guzman, 44
- Jose Guzman, 32
- Derek Montes Rios, 19
- Stephanie Juarez Polvos, 29
- Rigoberto Hernandez Guzman, 36
- Maria Sanchez, 66
All the alleged members of the crime organization were charged with organized retail theft, conspiracy, grand theft and receiving stolen property.
At a residence on the 2000 block of Dobern Avenue, more than $225,000 in stolen items and drugs were seized. More than $100,000 worth of stolen merchandise and narcotics were found in another residence on the 400 block of Giannotta Way, authorities said…