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<\/p>\nCellphone video shared by the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office shows a man in a hurry outside a Home Depot on Bird Road in 2023. The footage captures him dumping thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of merchandise into the trunk of a car before taking off.<\/p>\n
Investigators say the items stolen during that incident were valued at more than $4,400.<\/p>\n
They also say it wasn\u2019t an isolated crime.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne individual who was going to multiple Home Depots across the county,\u201d said a Miami-Dade detective. He asked us to identify him by his first name, Mike, to not jeopardize ongoing investigations.<\/p>\n
According to investigators, the suspect is Lazaro Contreras, a convicted felon accused of repeatedly targeting retailers across South Florida.<\/p>\n
The detective shared a photo he says shows Contreras wearing a wig during some of the thefts, as well as video of him driving off from another Home Depot parking lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would basically go in, make selections, place them into the cart, and then just– out the door,\u201d the detective said.<\/p>\n
Court records show Contreras was arrested last summer along with a woman for stealing more than $1,000 in merchandise from a Burlington store. In the arrest report, a detective described Contreras as a \u201cserial booster\u201d \u2014 a term used to describe repeat offenders who shoplift for resale and often target multiple retailers.<\/p>\n
Just months before that arrest, Contreras had been released from state prison after serving nearly two years for similar crimes, according to Florida Department of Corrections records.<\/p>\n
Shopper Jason Jones said he\u2019s seen the impact of organized retail theft firsthand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a victim when I was working for Home Depot, and they came in and they grabbed everything around. We couldn\u2019t stop them,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say organized retail theft is rarely spontaneous.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s usually very organized,\u201d said Christopher Olowin, an assistant statewide prosecutor. \u201cRarely do they act alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olowin is part of Florida\u2019s Retail Theft Special Task Force, a statewide partnership announced by the attorney general in November. The task force gives investigators and prosecutors the ability to work across city and county lines \u2014 something officials say is critical when theft rings operate in multiple jurisdictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat our office is focusing on are these organized groups committing crimes all across the state, often across multiple states,\u201d Olowin said.<\/p>\n
One recent high-profile case involved the so-called \u201cBeauty Bag Bandits.\u201d Seven people are accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars in beauty products from retailers throughout Florida and then reselling the items online. All but one of the defendants are currently awaiting trial.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Seven people are accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars in beauty products. All but one are awaiting trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen many operations where people commit the thefts and sell the items to a known fence or pawn shop,\u201d Olowin said. \u201cFrom there, it gets sold up the line and eventually ends up on platforms like eBay or Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investigators warn that organized retail theft cases can quickly escalate.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur office has prosecuted multiple cases where robberies are involved \u2014 where employees are being pepper-sprayed, they\u2019re being tased,\u201d Olowin said.<\/p>\n
Investigators say the financial impact on retailers is massive and it ends up costing consumers. That\u2019s why Olowin says state lawmakers have taken steps to recover some of that money.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the state passed a law requiring judges to order mandatory restitution for anyone convicted of organized retail theft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInvestigators say organized retail theft goes far beyond isolated shoplifting incidents, describing them as coordinated theft rings stealing thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of merchandise at a time \u2014 all with one goal: reselling the stolen goods for profit.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The question remains whether tougher laws and broader investigations are enough to deter repeat offenders.<\/p>\n
Contreras, for example, is now back behind bars \u2014 currently serving an eight-month sentence in county jail following a grand theft conviction tied to the Burlington case and other incidents. He has also been ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution.<\/p>\n
Since January, statewide prosecutors say their efforts have resulted in 74 years in combined prison sentences for organized retail theft cases and nearly $2 million in restitution orders.<\/p>\n
The Florida Retail Federation\u2019s CEO Scott Shalley has praised those efforts in a statement to NBC6, saying:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRetail theft at all levels is a direct attack on our businesses and communities. Fortunately, we have strong leaders in Florida who have taken a proactive approach to increase protections, strengthen enforcement and promote accountability. Through the statewide task force, key stakeholders join state level leaders and local law enforcement officers to identify trends, develop strategies and increase prevention. We\u2019ve seen the true impact of this effort with the dismantling of several organized retail crime rings in recent months, resulting in safer communities for retail teams, consumers, residents and visitors.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cellphone video shared by the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office shows a man in a hurry outside a Home Depot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,1168],"class_list":{"0":"post-232067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-headlines","10":"tag-florida-news","11":"tag-nbc6-investigates"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}