Organized retail theft a growing concern across city, state

“Theft crews” are hitting Petaluma retail stores such as Target, Ulta, Kohl’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods.|

A growing trend of mass shoplifting sprees in Petaluma and beyond has forced law enforcement agencies to respond, and state legislators to codify into law a relatively new type of crime: organized retail theft.

Organized retail thefts occur when thieves enter a store as a “crew” of two or more, gather armfuls of merchandise all at once and flee without paying. They usually hit larger retail stores near freeway entrances — in Petaluma that has included Target, Ulta, Kohl’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods — because there is plenty of valuable merchandise on hand, employees know not to confront the thieves and the nearby freeways offer an easy means of escape.

The crimes have increased so dramatically in recent years that they now happen in Petaluma on an almost daily basis, said Lt. Tim Lyons of the Petaluma Police Department. Typically, crews drive into town from the Sacramento or East Bay areas, he said — often in cars rented with stolen or fraudulent credit cards — and visit stores where they “can just go in and take high-end things pretty quickly.”

On Saturday, Petaluma police announced the arrest of an “organized theft crew” of three people from Vallejo and Fairfield with more than $10,000 worth of stolen merchandise allegedly in their possession. All of the merchandise was taken from Dick’s Sporting Goods stores in Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Sacramento, police said.

Police made an earlier bust Sept. 25 at the Petaluma Dick’s Sporting Goods, arresting two men from Fairfield. On Sept. 15 and 18, the same store was targeted by thieves who were not apprehended.

“There’s several different crews, and they just go around to different places (that are) easily accessible,” Lyons said. Sometimes, he added, “they hit Petaluma first, and then they go up to Santa Rosa, and then come back through Petaluma,” hitting the same stores again.

According to data released by the Petaluma Police Department, over the past two years, from Oct. 11, 2020, to Oct. 11, 2022, Ulta in Petaluma has been robbed 24 times by organized retail theft, 33 times at Target, 12 times at Kohl’s and 32 times at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Authorities and merchants said organized retail crime has ramped up greatly over the past three years. California lawmakers have responded, and last year Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 331, which created new law enforcement task forces to fight the crimes and altered the penal code so courts can better prosecute it.

“The California Highway Patrol has a special unit, and that’s all they do throughout the state is they target these crews,” Lyons said.

Lyons said it was not entirely clear how thieves are fencing all those stolen goods. And despite the organized-crime aspect, the different crews are not working together, he said.

Some crews have nonetheless grown into larger crime rings. In March, the state attorney general announced felony charges against nine members of a “statewide organized retail theft ring” allegedly in possession of $62,000 in cash and $135,000 worth of stolen merchandise at the time of their arrest in Los Angeles.

Also earlier this year, a survey by the National Retail Federation determined that organized retail theft is the biggest factor in an almost $100 billion nationwide stolen-goods problem. Soon after, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to Congress citing the survey and demanding lawmakers take action to curb the rising trend.

“Innocent consumers, employees, local communities, and business owners and shareholders bear the costs of rising retail theft,” the letter stated.

Don Frances is editor of the Petaluma Argus-Courier. Reach him at don.frances@arguscourier.com.

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