Law enforcement officers in Ventura County say they’ve broken up a ring responsible for more than 600 thefts at Home Depot stores.
"The crew wasn't just grabbing random items," said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff. He said it was a sophisticated operation.
"They were highly organized, targeting Home Depot, and focusing on expensive electrical components like breakers, dimmers, switches, and outlets. The total loss from this operation was over $10 million. It was the largest organized retail theft case uncovered in Home Depot history."
It impacted 71 Home Depot locations in Southern California.
"At the center was a man named David Ahl," Fryhoff explained. "He ran a storefront called Aria Wholesale in Tarzana. His crews of thieves, known as boosters, would steal merchandise from the Home Depots, sometimes hitting every Home Depot in Ventura County in a single day. Then, the boosters would deliver the stolen items in trash bags or Home Depot boxes to his business or his home, where he paid them in cash. He (Ahl) would then sell those stolen items at a reduced price to contractors and other electrical businesses."
According to investigators, Ahl's operation also included his brother-in-law, his ex-wife, and some employees of his store.
Ahl is facing 45 felony counts.
Ventura County District Attorney Eric Nasarenko described a surveillance video of one of the thefts.
"The thefts began first thing in the morning, when the store opened typically at 6 a.m."
In the video, a man stuffs his pockets with breakers from the Home Depot electrical aisle.
"Each one of these breakers is valued at around $100. During this same visit, the man grabs a pole from the aisle to swipe boxes filled with electrical components from the top shelf," said the DA. You can even see the man climbing up the shelf and reaching around a plastic security wall intended to prevent people from grabbing items.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman says the stolen items were never intended for use. It was all about selling them for cash.
"They're not stealing these electronic components to use them," Hochman said. "They're stealing them to turn into money."
Home Depot security officials said they saw some of the same people coming into stores repeatedly to steal items. They contacted law enforcement officials, leading to the investigation by the county’s Organized Retail Theft Task Force.
Simi Valley Police Detective Shane Johnson was one of the lead investigators. He described the nuts and bolts of their investigation: "Countless days outside of the county, sitting inside a car watching these criminals do their tactics. There was a lot of time in the seat to verify with our own eyes what we suspected them of."
Johnson believes that other theft rings are using the same kinds of operations.
"I would say yes, there are operations in a similar manner. It may not be with electric products, it might be something else, but I would say if we were able to locate and arrest these people, based on my experience, there's (others) operating just like them."
Law enforcement officials say the case was aided by a state law that took effect this year, which allows prosecutors to consolidate cases involving the same defendants across multiple jurisdictions. Until now, the crimes would have to be tried separately in the county where they occurred, with the net result being shorter sentences.
Democratic State Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin of Thousand Oaks authored the legislation, which prosecutors say is a significant help in getting longer sentences in organized retail theft cases.
