CONCORD — Prosecutors have charged four people in connection with a retail theft ring that allegedly hit nearly 100 stores during a two-month period last year, court records show.
The four defendants — three women and a man — were charged with a mix of retail theft, identity theft and mail theft charges, including multiple felony and misdemeanor counts. All four have active arrest warrants and have not yet shown up in court, records show.
The defendants include a 21-year-old Richmond woman — who police say was the ringleader — as well as her mother and her mother’s fiance, court records show. The investigation started in March 2023, when the 21-year-old woman and a female accomplice allegedly stole $10,000 worth of sunglasses from a business in the Sunvalley Mall.
The 21-year-old woman was identified through surveillance pictures and arrested just a week after the mall theft, in a car full of stolen items. Police tied many of the items to a sporting goods store, and were contacted by a business owner who claimed the duo stole a bunch of beanies from his store, after police put out a news release announcing the arrests.
The 21-year-old woman was later released from jail, but before she was, she allegedly called her boyfriend to complain that if her mother had been able to follow her instructions, the cops never would have arrested them. After her release, police used a tracking device and other surveillance techniques to follow members of the theft ring, and documented them going to 93 stores around Northern California, from May to July 2023, authorities said.