Arkansas AG Says Police Arrested 16 Retail Theft Suspects in Crime Blitz
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said Monday that police in Jonesboro, Ark., arrested 16 people for alleged retail theft last week. According to the announcement, police said they pinpointed five additional retail crime suspects, who they did not arrest during this blitz.
Among those arrested, the state brought 'more than 60 charges…about half of which were felony charges.' In Arkansas, suspects become eligible for a felony if they steal more than $1,000 worth of merchandise. The class of the felony is determined by how much the stolen merchandise is worth.
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According to the attorney general, other charges included drug possession, evidence tampering and forgery.
The attorney general said impacted stores included two Walmart locations, two Walgreens stores, a Target, a Dollar Tree, a TJ Maxx, a HomeGoods, a Lowe's, a Home Depot, an Academy Sports, a Kohl's and a Burlington Coat Factory.
Griffin said the operation is the latest example of the state's interest in combating retail crime, an issue that retailers consistently cite when discussing shrink.
'This operation shows our continued commitment to eradicating this type of crime in Arkansas. We are working with law enforcement agencies and private sector partners across the state to gather intelligence, arrest perpetrators, and ultimately hold bad actors accountable,' Griffin said in a statement.
Arkansas, like other states, has recently worked to tighten its theft laws, even extending to cargo theft. Earlier this year, the state legislature passed a bill that would see cargo theftsters serving enhanced sentences if convicted. Another bill in the same retail crime package also created a framework to more robustly charge those involved in organized retail crime.
Shannon Newton, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, said at the time that the package would help disincentivize retail crime throughout the state.
'By recognizing that organized crime operates throughout the supply chain, from retail stores to transportation networks, this collaboration has produced meaningful legislation that will better protect Arkansas businesses and consumers. We remain committed to working with our partners to develop practical solutions to the challenges facing our industry,' Newton said in a statement in March.
Griffin said in his Monday statement that the state has made organized retail crime a priority since 2023; since then, officers have recovered more than $600,000 in stolen merchandise and arrested 44 suspects.
Late last month, his office announced that a retail crime suspect the state had been pursuing for several months would be charged with Class D felonies.'Sasha Rena Ziegler, 32, of Little Rock, surrendered Wednesday to the Little Rock Criminal Court after being at large on a warrant issued for her arrest. The warrant was the result of an investigation by my office into multiple incidents of organized retail crime at a Marshalls store in Little Rock. Ziegler has been charged with two counts of theft of property, Class D felonies,' Griffin said in a statement.
The Jonesboro Police Department did not return Sourcing Journal's request for further information on the arrests and charges.
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