More than a dozen suspects were arrested in a Queens bust of an alleged theft ring targeting hundreds of Home Depots across nine states, according to investigators.
Surveillance video showed a man taking items off the shelves of a Home Depot store, placing them in a large bin, and then just moments later pushing the bin out of the store without paying. Another camera angle showed a suspect allegedly pushing a pallet of stolen items right out of the store.
Those were just a couple examples of the massive and widespread scheme in which the suspects allegedly made off with millions in stolen merchandise.
“They’d go back rinse and repeat the next day. It was very organized,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
The DA stood with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Thursday in front of some of the evidence seized by investigators, including power drills, tape measures, smoke alarms, air conditioners and other household goods.
There were 319 separate thefts in what investigators called “Operation Self Checkout,” according to law enforcement. As many as 128 Home Depot locations in nine states were impacted, with $2.2 million in pilfered items.
District Attorney Katz called it “the largest and most brazen retail spree that we have ever prosecuted.” Hochul said the real victims were honest shoppers, who were left to pay the price as their items get marked up.
“There are people spending every waking hour trying to rip off other people. And the result is your prices are higher than they ever should have been,” the governor said.
Investigators said 13 people had been arrested so far, including alleged ringleader Armando Diaz, who was charged with grand larceny.
The alleged thieves would meet in a parking lot near Queens Center Mall at 5 a.m. every day. The operation was based in Queens, according to investigators, but the suspects would hit the road every day.
What would determine the site of the next stealing spree? That depended on which shop had the most inventory.
“This is how it went — the evening before, they would look online for which Home Depot to steal from,” said Katz.
State police said the thieves brought the stolen items back to the city each day, storing the ill-gotten goods in a warehouse or apartment before getting re-sold on line.
The amount of things stolen in a single day ranged from about $1,800 to nearly $35,000. Authorities have recovered about $1.5 million in stolen merchandise so far.
If convicted, the top ringleaders in the alleged theft ring face up to 25 years in prison.