News and Success Stories

Category: Retail Theft

LeadsOnline provides information to Detectives in Arizona

“Two men entered a business and removed four guitars from the wall without paying for them, before escaping in a Ford truck. An employee was able to get a license plate and description of the vehicle, and the registered owner was later identified as one of the suspects. A LeadsOnline check was completed and I learned the suspect had sold one of the guitars to a business in Phoenix, Arizona. I also received a telephone call from LeadsOnline confirming the hit on the guitar.

With the information provided by LeadsOnline, I was able to ascertain which business the guitar was sold to, the item description, the ticket number, and suspect information immediately. I was able to place a hold on the guitar and retrieved it before it was sold. I was also able to locate the suspect owning the Ford truck and he is now in jail awaiting trial. Based on his criminal past, he is looking at a steep sentence. The second suspect is still at large.”

Det. John Wyant
Salt River AZ PD
Arizona

16 felony charges against Target’s Blu-ray thieves

“We had a guy who was stealing hundreds of Blu-ray movies from local Target stores. In two incidents he was stopped by security but produced an expandable baton and fled. We only had photos to go off of. We then searched Blu-rays through LeadsOnline. We compared the MVD photos of those people until we located our guy. We charged him and his neighbor with 16 felony charges.”

Det. Jeff Baker
Tucson Police Department
Arizona

Case closed before the ink dries – everybody wins!

“A suspect stole a necklace valued at approximately $2,000 from a retail store, and he ran to his vehicle and fled. Within 15 minutes, officers spotted the vehicle, but the suspect denied ever being in the store, etc. When store security video matched the driver, officers began searching the vehicle for the necklace, while the suspect continuously changed his story about its whereabouts. He first said he dropped it, and then he threw it into a field, etc. We knew it was a long shot, but we entered his name into LeadsOnline and found he had just sold it at an area jewelry store about 18 minutes earlier. The ink probably wasn’t even dry on the receipt yet! The amount he was paid was the exact amount of cash he had on him when he was arrested. The store got its necklace back, the pawn store got their money back, and the suspect is still trying to figure out how his stories fell apart so fast!”

Sharon Konfara
Westland Police Department
Michigan

$10,000 organized crime solved

“I was recently assigned a case where a male and female were observed on video possibly stealing high valued items from Cabelas. Both individuals were identified through media resources. After learning the identities of the two, a simple check through LeadsOnline was done. During the check, over $10,000 of property was identified to as being pawned by the two individuals at multiple pawn shops. Most of the items were recovered and returned to the store. During both suspects interviews they confessed and provided the name of a third individual. Once the third person was identified, the store located surveillance video of the person stealing items from the store as well. A check through LeadsOnline was done on the third individual, revealing several items of stolen property being pawned. All three suspects have been charged with multiple felonies and over $10,000 of stolen property had been recovered and returned to the store.”

Det. Eric Tipton
Charleston Police Department
West Virginia

Suspect arrested for shoplifting guitars from major retail chain

“A suspect entered a music store on multiple occasions and stole/shoplifted three guitars with a total price tag of $2,479.97. He sold each one of the guitars at three different businesses located throughout the city. Inventory searches were done at different times and the business generated two reports in this case. The retailer requested prosecution and their loss prevention team has been extremely helpful in the investigation. Our suspect “lawyered” up so there was no interview.”

Lieutenant Robert Strausbaugh
Columbus Police Department
Ohio

Tools stolen from woodworking shop and sold to local business in North Carolina

“I ran the name of a suspect who has been suspected in several breaking and entering cases in my county, as well as our neighboring county, through LeadsOnline. I got a hit on the suspect showing he sold numerous power tools. A few days later, I was assigned a report of a felony breaking and entering in a woodworking shop, and felony larceny of power tools. I compared the list of stolen power tools to the list of tools sold by the suspect, and it was a match. The suspect was arrested and placed in jail where he still sits. The burglary reports in the area where he operated have dramatically gone down. It is nice to have LeadsOnline as a resource to stop criminals from creating more victims.”

Det. Darryl Mcphatter
Robeson County Sheriff’s Department
North Carolina

$3,800 worth of tools stolen from employer

“While searching a suspect on LeadsOnline, I found he sold approximately $3,800 worth of tools and other property that was stolen from his employer over a four month period. I also discovered other stolen property from previous theft cases. When confronted, the suspect confessed to all the thefts. He was ultimately arrested for felony and misdemeanor theft.”

Det. Dave Haselow
Middleton Police Department
Wisconsin

Chainsaw stolen from local business recovered

“A chainsaw was stolen from a local business, and my Sergeant said that it was likely to be sold because it was brand new and never used. I asked if it had been run through LeadsOnline to check, and she told me that it had not. I logged in to LeadsOnline and ran it through and then put a BOLO on it. Low and behold, I came to work the next day and had a hit on it. The officer received the information, made contact with the shop and is now in the process of getting the property back as well as a warrant for the suspect. All thanks in large part to LeadsOnline!”

Disp. Kyle Davis
Bentonville Police Department
Arkansas

Diamond ring found immediately after joining LeadsOnline

“Within 5 minutes of becoming a member, I was able to solve the theft of an $8,000 diamond ring that was stolen from a jewelry store in our town. Upon checking possible suspects, I found the ring in Philadelphia. A few days later I interviewed the suspect and a confession to the theft was obtained. This is a wonderful tool that paid for itself in five minutes of use. I can just imagine the cases I will be able clear with a full year of use. Our department is quite pleased!”

Sgt. Randy Morris
Bristol Borough Police
Pennsylvania

Hardware store robbed, items recovered less than an hour later

“While investigating a report of theft from a local hardware store, we completed a search of the surrounding areas. By putting a BOLO on these searches, we were alerted 50 minutes later of a transaction. All of the property was recovered, and the suspect was taken into custody after a vehicle pursuit in a neighboring jurisdiction. LeadsOnline helped clear our case!”

Det. Brian Nugent
Avon Police Department
Indiana

Over $35,000 stolen in tools, suspect arrested

“In keeping the momentum of our new tool, detectives were able to locate several items that were taken in a theft from a local construction company totaling over $35,000 in property. We developed a suspect from this information, apprehended him and got a confession. While a lot of the property still remains unrecovered, some of it has been recovered and the ‘bad guy’ went to jail. Priceless! Thank you.”

Det. Sam Cunningham
Sweetwater Police
Texas

Suspect steals air conditioning unit and sells in nearby city

“I received a case involving a theft of an air conditioning unit from a local oil field business. After speaking with the complainant I had a possible suspect based on the business owner’s suspicion. Once I obtained his information, I ran the suspect through LeadsOnline and was made aware that he had sold the item in a nearby city. Without LeadsOnline this case might not have been so easily solved. I think this is a great tool and will aid me in many more investigations in the future.”

Sgt. Ben Reynolds
Rusk County Sheriff’s Office
Texas

Walmart thieves caught and arrested

“I am requesting that Inv. Jason Greenlee be nominated as a “Rock Star” due to his recent involvement in catching some bad guys stealing from several major retailers located in Louisiana and selling the items throughout the state. Inv. Greenlee was able to recover several thousands of dollars worth of merchandise using LeadsOnline. Warrants were obtained on the bad guys with the sharing of different agencies and with the help and information from LeadsOnline.”

Deputy Ashley Wyant
Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office
Louisiana

Ohio police recover items stolen from a retail theft ring

“Huber Heights Police Detective Brian Doyle and I have been working a retail theft ring involving two males and one female. They have been hitting retail stores across the Miami Valley. A search of LeadsOnline revealed several thousand dollars’ worth of new property that was sold by the suspects. This search led Detectives to an additional recovery of approximately $3,000 of stolen property held by the fencer in this case. Thank you LeadsOnline.”

Det. Fred Meadows
Xenia Police
Ohio

Stolen TV is located through NCIC hits

“We recently received a notice from LeadsOnline that a TV we entered as stolen into the NCIC system was recently sold at a local business. The TV was taken in a business burglary almost two years ago! The pawn shop was very cooperative, and we are hoping this break will help us solve the burglary. Needless to say, we are pretty happy with just the notice and will be using this success to encourage all of our residents to keep track of their serial numbers. I’m also certain that this success will keep the bean counters convinced that we need this tool.”

Chief Perry Kingsbury – FBINAA #195
Wrightstown Police Department
Wisconsin

Property in retail theft recovered and returned

“With the assistance of LeadsOnline, I was able to identify the suspect involved in two retail thefts. The property was sold to a secondhand store within hours of the theft and I recovered the property. The case resulted in criminal charges.”

Det. Vince Bruett
Bloomington Police Department
Illinois

Verona PD recover $4,000 worth of stolen tools

“LeadsOnline helped me locate approximately $4,000 worth of stolen electrical tools, and arrest two individuals, resulting in several felony charges. The recovery of these tools alone relieved the victim business of the hardship that was caused by the theft, and allowed them to continue with their operations. Without LeadsOnline, all of the suspects would not have been identified, and the majority of the tools would not have been recovered. The majority of my theft and burglary cases start by utilizing LeadsOnline! Thank you!”

Officer Travis Wetter
Verona Police Department
Wisconsin

Electric car chargers stolen and found on eBay

“I was assigned a case where a local Nissan dealership reported two Nissan Leaf electric car chargers stolen. The owner’s wife located a few sales on eBay that contained similar items in similar time frames. I ran the seller ID connected to the items and discovered that the seller was an employee of the same Nissan dealership. Coincidentally, he was charged with two counts of larceny by employee. The normal process to obtain this information through eBay takes 20-45 days on average. LeadsOnline saved me a lot of time and effort and helped me close this case quickly.”

Det. Nathan Lecompte
Greenville Police Department
North Carolina

Several stolen GoPro cameras recovered and returned to West Virginia retail store

“I was contacted by a local retail store about several GoPro cameras that were missing. Using LeadsOnline, I searched for recently sold GoPro Camera’s. I found the name of a suspect associated with selling GoPro cameras who also had a history of stealing. I ran his history using LeadsOnline and eventually recovered over $8,000 worth of merchandise. I am currently working with other local stores and may be able to recover several thousand dollars worth of stolen merchandise, which I suspect was stolen by my suspect. Thanks for a great tool to help us recover victim’s valuables.”

Det. Wesley Daniels
Charleston Police Department
West Virginia

Suspect arrested after stealing multiple vacuums from local stores

“I was informed by the patrol division that a local store in town had reported a suspect for stealing Dyson vacuum cleaners valued at $600 on 3 separate dates. I was also informed by the store loss prevention team that the same suspect had also committed similar thefts at stores in several other towns around the area. I used LeadsOnline to search for Dyson vacuums around the area and located several vacuums sold around the dates of each theft. During the investigation, several suspects were developed from the LeadsOnline reports. I was able to track down several of the suspects to interview them, and they admitted they received the items from a ‘friend’ who had asked them to sell them. A positive ID was made on the ‘friend’ and arrest warrants were obtained. The offender and his accomplice were taken into custody and charged with over 16 felony charges of burglary and theft. The LeadsOnline website was vital to this investigation and a majority of the items stolen were recovered and returned to the store.”

Patrol Michael Bush
Mundelein Police Department
Illinois

Several burglaries solved in Fernandina Beach with LeadsOnline

“I was assigned a case regarding a burglary to an auto repair/auto sales business. Through my investigation, I developed a person of interest. This person was not from the local area, and I had no way of proving he was in the area during the time of the burglary… until I searched LeadsOnline! I was able to solve my burglary, as well as several other burglaries utilizing LeadsOnline. The suspect was in town the day of the burglary selling stolen items from a different burglary that occurred in a different jurisdiction. I recovered stolen tools in both my case and the other agency’s case. Thanks LeadsOnline!”

Det. Michael Mazuryk
Fernandina Beach Police Department
Florida

Wisconsin police end couple’s year-long retail theft ring

“A local retail store contacted our department about a female who was caught stealing Box Sets of DVDs. Upon searching LeadsOnline we discovered she had sold multiple stolen items. We determined her boyfriend had also been stealing and had sold a large quantity of property. These thefts had been going on for over a year. As a result of using LeadsOnline, we were able to recover some of the property, and request restitution for the rest. This minor theft turned out to be a felony theft rather than a municipal citation. LeadsOnline is a tremendous investigative tool, which has benefitted our department greatly. Way to go!”

Sgt. Thomas Schmit
Fitchburg Police Department
Wisconsin

Kansas police use LeadsOnline as a tool to catch retail thief

“I was assigned a theft case for follow up. The store provided surveillance video of the male suspect walking out of the store with merchandise that was not paid for. The store had no serial number information, and the store video was not clear enough to make a positive Identification from the suspect’s face. A store employee was able to provide us with a license plate on the suspect’s vehicle. I ran the tag, and the registered owner was a female, and not our suspect from the video. I used an online police resource to find names of known associates to the vehicle owner. I located one who was similar to the suspect in the surveillance video. I searched LeadsOnline for the name and found this person sold the same types of items reported stolen in another jurisdiction. The business supplied us with photographs of the suspect who sold the property, and he was wearing the same shirt as he was in the store surveillance video when the item was stolen.”

Det. Matthew Nickel
Leavenworth Police Department
Kansas

Department stores targeted by high end vacuum thief

“I located a Dyson vacuum that was sold about 40 minutes after it was stolen from a Kohl’s Department Store. Information obtained from the transaction led me to the suspect’s friend, who drove him to the Kohl’s Department Store. The suspect was subsequently arrested for burglary and two counts of felony retail theft. This information also helped obtain charges on the same suspect for thefts in surrounding jurisdictions.”

Det. Shaun Knight
Lake Zurich Police Department
Illinois

Tools stolen from local businesses and recovered

“While working a local business burglary case where tools were stolen, we checked LeadsOnline and saw that a local person sold tools at two businesses in Salina, Kansas. I contacted the shops and went over to look at the tools that were sold to them. At both shops, it was determined that the tools were the same tools stolen from the business. All the tools were collected, and with evidence from LeadsOnline, the suspect confessed and pled. Thanks!”

Inv. Toby Osburn
Dickinson County Sheriff’s Department
Kansas

LeadsOnline supports evidence of suspect stealing video games from multiple businesses

“A female subject came into a local business in the city of Hialeah. The employee noticed she was very nervous looking as she was looking through a stack of video games on the rack. The employee noticed a large amount of envelopes that contained games were empty, and asked the subject where they were. The subject replied, ‘I did not take the games.’ Right then, the employee reviewed the surveillance video footage and confirmed that the subject did remove many pre-owned video games from their sealed envelopes and put them in her purse. The employee attempted to confront the subject regarding the stolen items, but the subject fled on foot with the video games. The video games were valued at $315. The subject was identified by a license plate number the employee noted from the vehicle. The lead Detective questioned another local business in the city, and an employee identified the same subject as the person who stole several video games on another occasion, totaling $130. The Detective provide me the subject’s name and date of birth, and I ran her information through LeadsOnline. I instantly came up with transactions showing she pawned numerous video games. Unknown to the lead Detective, the subject had an open Domestic Violence case and was at the Hialeah Police Station. One of the burglary Detective’s noticed the subject in the elevator from a BOLO that was issued for Grand Theft of video games. The lead Detective interviewed the subject, and she would not admit to the theft. Later, the subject spoke with the Domestic Violence Advocate where she spontaneous said, ‘I did it for my young son.’ The subject was charged with Grand Theft and transported to jail.”

Det. Donald Duhart
Hialeah Police Department
Florida

LeadsOnline makes solving cases easy and fast

“You guys did it again! We had a retail theft that led to a pursuit. The suspect had the wonderful idea to sell to a local business that reports to LeadsOnline. Using your system saved me hours of pawn shop hunting!!”

Det. Jack Shannon
Northlake Police Department
Illinois

LeadsOnline and ecoATM help identify a jewelry shoplifter

“I was investigating an incident involved shoplifting numerous pieces of jewelry valued at over $200. The victim had security cameras and decent footage of the female suspect. The victim was able to obtain the license plate number of the vehicle the suspect left in, which belonged to a male. Through my investigation, I was able to find a female matching the description of the suspect. Initially, the only pictures I could find of the female were old, making it difficult to identify her as the suspect in the incident. Through LeadsOnline, I was able to find a recent pawn by the female in which she sold a cell phone at ecoATM. Because ecoATM takes pictures of the individuals, I now had an updated photograph which led to identifying the suspect. LeadsOnline has been an invaluable investigative tool, not only for finding stolen items but personal information on potential suspects, photographs, and current information. Thank you.”

Det. Calvin Beveridge
Chesapeake Police Department
Virginia

Retail thieves identified easily with help from LeadsOnline

“Here’s one that’s a bit unusual. I received an email from a loss prevention person at one of our department stores with surveillance photos of a couple who had been shoplifting game controllers from the store. She was asking if anyone could identify the two suspects. I used LeadsOnline to identify nine potential individuals. I narrowed the list to two based on relative age of the individuals in the surveillance photos. I found that they both had been selling, not only game controllers, but also cell phones to the ecoATM machines at our mall. Knowing that ecoATM takes photographs of people transacting business at their kiosks, I pulled up the ecoATM tickets with attached photos and had perfect pictures of both suspects with their identifying information, drivers licenses and thumbprints. One of the photos even showed both suspects together at the kiosk.”

Tom Haynie
Medford Police Department
Oregon

Mower stolen from local hardware store returned to rightful owner

“I recovered a mower stolen from a local hardware store by using the LeadsOnline system. The property was recovered and returned to the owner of the hardware store with warrants obtained on the suspect. Awesome!!!”

Det. James Smith
Stokes County Sheriff’s Office
North Carolina

Police recover television stolen from local business

“We had a report of a stolen television from a local business, and as the officers were responding, we put the information into LeadsOnline. We received a hit on the stolen television with all the information we needed. Soon after, the officers recovered the TV at the pawn shop and a warrant will be issued for the suspect. Thanks for all that you do and making this possible!”

Dispatcher Kyle Davis
Bentonville Police Department
Arkansas

LeadsOnline proves invaluable to Missouri police

“Our officers responded to an apartment complex after tools were reported stolen. The theft was a felony amount, and they suspected a former employee. During my investigation, I used LeadsOnline and located the same tools that had been pawned. The investigation revealed their suspicions were accurate. The former employee pawned the tools because he was homeless and living out of his car. Because of LeadsOnline, I was able to place a hold on the items and recover them for the victim. The suspect was taken into custody, and provided a full confession when confronted with all of the facts, including the LeadsOnline record! The property was returned to the victim. Using LeadsOnline, I was able to clear a case, obtain a confession, have warrants issued, and return the stolen items to the victim, all within two days! LeadsOnline proved invaluable in this case!”

Det. Geoffrey Schultz
Creve Coeur Police Department
Missouri

Suspect arrested after renting and selling tools from five separate rental businesses

“Just wanted to pass along another success story. I’m finishing the investigation on a case that started out with my suspect renting equipment from a tool rental business and then never returning it. Thanks to LeadsOnline, I found the suspect sold the equipment to a pawn shop the same day he rented it. The suspect was having the equipment charged to the state of Indiana. After checking further, I found that he sold equipment that he rented from five other equipment businesses over a period of a month. Due to LeadsOnline, we have been able to recover almost all of the equipment with a total value of nearly $30,000. Great work on your guys’ part, and thanks for having a great resource for us to use.”

Det. Larry Craciunoiu
Indianapolis Police Department
Indiana

Suspect uses an alias to charge rented power tools to company account and sell them for cash

“Well I don’t claim to be a Rock Star, but I do have a success story. This is actually a traveling theft suspect who was identified through LeadsOnline. He would go to equipment rental businesses and pose as an employee of a well-known construction business. He would then rent a saw or another expensive tool and have the rental company place the item on the business account. He would fail to bring the equipment back and then pawn the equipment at a local secondhand shop. Investigators had success with tracking his thefts via LeadsOnline. The suspect is a parolee and has numerous warrants from Kansas for violation of his parole and theft. He has committed these thefts in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. This would not have been determined if it weren’t for Leads. Y’all are the Rock Stars!”

Det. Daniel Robbins
Fayetteville Police Department
Arkansas

Suspect steals copper wiring from employer for quick cash

“The victimized business in this investigation filed a larceny report believing that some of their employees were stealing copper house wire. A list was compiled by the victim and submitted in the initial report. Detective Rios searched through LeadsOnline and found that one of the victim’s employees scrapped a large amount of copper house wire. Detective Rios obtained tickets and photos of each transaction that showed exactly what the suspect sold. The victim identified all the wiring in the photos as wiring the company keeps in stock for their electrical contracting business. The victim reviewed his inventory which showed that the suspect was taking more wire than what was needed for the jobs. It was then determined that the amount of copper wire stolen amounted to $3,581. The suspect then sold/scrapped the same wiring and received a total amount of $1,982. A warrant was issued for the suspect’s arrest for Embezzlement and Obtaining Property by False Pretenses. He was apprehended and invoked his right to remain silent. There is more follow up to conduct regarding possible associates and other thefts.”

Det. Wilbur Oneal
Raleigh Police Department
North Carolina

LeadsOnline helps Ohio police arrest repeat offender known for retail theft

“Using LeadsOnline I became aware that a female, who I arrested last month for stealing, was selling an unusually high number of tools that were ‘new in box’. After sending out her information and photo on a metro area information network, I began receiving emails from businesses who recognized her as being a suspect in multiple thefts.”

Det. Ryan Kiser
Reynoldsburg Police Department
Ohio

Police discover retail thieves and secondhand clerk working together

“While working a burglary case, I found similar items being sold at a local business. Further investigation revealed these were not the items; however, after going back approximately 10 months, it was found this subject and another girl had pawned about $50,000 worth of new items. I was able to determine the Rosetta Stone items had been shipped to a local Target, and while working with their loss prevention, they were able to go back on video and see the suspects on tape stealing these items. After making the arrest on the two suspects, we discovered the pawn shop clerk was also involved, and with the help of Target loss prevention donating items to be sold, we were able to make an arrest on the pawn shop clerk. We recovered approximately $5,000 worth of items that the shop still had.”

Inv. Bryant Hinson
Richland County Sheriff’s Department
South Carolina

Business catches employee stealing $1,700 worth of property

“I investigated a breach of trust type of case in which a company’s employee had been removing property from the business and selling it to pawn shops for cash. The victim was unaware of exactly how much property had been stolen at the time of the report. Using the employees name to search, I discovered that the employee had sold approximately $1,700 worth of property and lawn care equipment to multiple pawn shops. The victim was able to identify all of their property, and it was quickly recovered. This discovery resulted in an arrest.”

Det. Brian Smith
Lexington County Sheriff’s Department
South Carolina

$23,000 worth of property recovered for business before they even knew it was stolen

“I was reviewing the results of a search when I noticed one gentleman sold several 1000 lb electric hoists, brand new in the box, at one of our local secondhand stores. A little research on the hoists revealed only one business in the area that sold such equipment. I contacted the business and asked them to conduct a physical inventory of their hoists. A total of nine hoists were missing from the shelves, the exact same number that had been sold at the secondhand store. The person who sold the equipment turned out to be the shipping and receiving manager for the company. He was arrested and charged for the thefts, and the company was able to recover approximately $23,000 worth of inventory they didn’t even know was missing. Without LeadsOnline, the crime might not have been discovered at all, or may have come to light after the property had been liquidated.”

Det. Patrick Sutherland
Toledo Police Department
Ohio

Suspect caught selling stolen items from local home improvement stores and Walmarts

“I was doing an extensive background check on a suspect that was selling brand new drills. The drills were stolen from several home improvement stores in our city. The stores were not aware of the larcenies until I made them aware of the situation. The estimated cost of the drills were $5,000 and I also noticed that the suspect was selling brand new Samsung cameras, Toshiba hard drives, 15 wireless routers, and several computer keyboards. Those items were stolen from our local Walmart stores and they also did not know the items were stolen until we notified them. All the property that was sold by the suspect was recovered and the suspect was charged and eventually convicted. I feel that LeadsOnline is a very useful tool and I have closed several other cases using Leads.”

Det. John Alexander
Greensboro Police Department
North Carolina

Organized retail theft ring in Alabama now somewhat less organized

“I found my where my suspect sold a large number of brand new Dewalt drills, which were stolen from Lowes. I have also learned that he is a part of a larger theft ring operating throughout two counties. I have recovered approximately $4,000 worth of property just this week alone.”

Det. Wesley Grigsby
Madison Police Investigations
Alabama

Law enforcement cleaning up with LeadsOnline

“We received a retail theft report from a business in which an unknown offender walked out of the store with three Dyson Vacuums. Their loss and prevention department provided us with the serial numbers for the stolen vacuum cleaners. A LeadsOnline search showed the vacuum cleaners were sold at a pawn shop located 25 miles away from our town. The offender was currently out on bond for committing a similar retail theft in another jurisdiction.”

Det. Chris Allen
Plainfield Police Department
Illinois

Organized retail theft cases solved with LeadsOnline and Facebook

“A crime bulletin was sent out from another jurisdiction seeking help in identifying a female accomplice in a series of retail thefts. The bulletin included the male suspect’s name and a clear photo of both suspects. I accessed LeadsOnline and queried the transactions made by the male suspect. Once I saw he had a pawn history, I used LeadsOnline to identify the female suspect. I then went to the female’s Facebook page and there was a photo of the two suspects together! This research only took a few minutes to complete and yielded results. LeadsOnline is an extremely useful tool.”

Det. David Mozell
Lakewood Police Department
Colorado

Store employee caught stealing and selling several cell phones in Ohio

“With the help of LeadsOnline, I was able to retrieve 14 cell phones from an ecoATM which had been stolen by an employee of a cell phone store. The phones were returned to the victim and charges filed on the suspect. Thank you LeadsOnline. ”

Det. Kimberly Haines
Jackson Township Police Department
Ohio

Trio of suspects caught in larceny with hard evidence confirmed with LeadsOnline

“For over six months, a local jewelry store was reporting that they were having an issue with three unidentified suspects stealing expensive watches. In all the reported thefts, it was the same three suspects. Two of the suspects would cause a diversion and then the third suspect would commit the larceny. In one instance the suspects were observed leaving the scene in a vehicle with limited descriptors. Using LeadsOnline, I was able to determine who the suspects were through the repeated transactions option. There were hits during the reported time frames of the thefts. Further investigation revealed the main suspect had known the associates that were also identified as the remaining two suspects who were also selling the same brand of expensive stolen watches. The main suspect also drove the same make, model, and color vehicle observed during one of the larcenies. A short time after that larceny occurred; the main suspect was selling the watches at a local business. The information from LeadsOnline was used to confirm the identities of the suspects. LeadsOnline also assisted in identifying the stolen watches and gave a time line of events that coincided with the reported larcenies. In total, 19 of 22 watches have been recovered and all three suspects have been identified and arrested.”

Det. Wilbur Oneal
Raleigh Police Department
North Carolina

Raleigh detective uses LeadsOnline to stop a team of thieves from a multitude of consecutive thefts

“I was notified by management of two music stores that they were experiencing a rash of thefts concerning guitars in the local area. I was given a list of guitars that had been reported stolen. In review of the property listed as stolen, it was learned that there was a group of individuals specifically targeting music centers for mandolins and Stratocasters. LeadsOnline was able to assist in locating several of these guitars that were reported stolen and also identified/located additional music equipment that was not previously reported as being stolen. Four suspects that are known to each other and are operating together were identified. A multitude of music equipment and instruments were returned to the victims within a short amount of time. Property was located all throughout Wake County and Cumberland County. All four suspects were located and arrested. Another success with the assistance of LeadsOnline. ”

Det. Wilbur Oneal
Raleigh Police Department
North Carolina

Pasadena detective catches purse snatcher

“While investigating an Organized Retail Theft case in which a female suspect had stolen multiple purses from multiples of a specific store on several occasions, I was able to identify the suspect. A check of LeadsOnline revealed that she had sold 37 purses at the same business in a month’s time frame. Upon arresting the suspect, she confessed that she had sold all of the purses which she had stolen to the business referenced above. I was ultimately able to seize 29 purses valued at approximately $5,000 which will later be given back to the store they came from.”

Det. Kevin Satterwhite
Pasadena Police Department
Texas

Rash of retail thefts brought to an end with the help of LeadsOnline

“This summer, a major home improvement center was alerted to a person concealing WIFI thermostats on their person and leaving their store. Loss prevention at this chain reviewed video of the incident and determined that the suspect removed two of these high valued thermostats and left the store without paying. We ran a search of the model number and brand of the thermostat and were able to locate the items being sold at a local business via use of LeadsOnline. Upon looking at photos of the offender from the retail store video and the identification provided to the business by the suspect, we were able to identify the individual who stole the items. Upon further checking of transaction records from LeadsOnline we were able to connect the offender with several other jurisdictions and a rash of retail thefts that were committed there as well. Because of LeadsOnline, we were able to link the offender to several thefts across multiple jurisdictions and counties and bring him and others to justice.”

Lt. John Dossey
Hanover Park Police Department
Illinois

Suspect who receives a refund for property that has never been sold gets caught

“Earlier this summer, while reviewing LeadsOnline, I discovered (while using the residents pawning outside our jurisdiction option) that a female had been selling gift cards for four consecutive days. Upon looking into the issue further I learned (by admission from the suspect) that she would wake up every day, go into Target or Walmart, remove property from the shelf, walk directly up to the return counter, ask for a refund and receive a gift card for the amount of the merchandise. LeadsOnline’s features are awesome! Thanks!”

Det. Jason Threlkeld
Miamisburg Police Department
Ohio