Golden – Members of what authorities call a multi-state professional theft ring have stolen hundreds of iPods from Target stores in Colorado, Illinois and California.
“Two minutes max” is how long ring members spent in each store, said Greg Neal, an investigator with the Jefferson County district attorney’s office.
“You watch them on surveillance tape, and you can see how quickly they work and how cool they are,” Neal said Thursday as an indictment of one alleged ring member was announced.
Ipolito Torres, 35, of Van Nuys, Calif., who also is known as Leonel Garcia Crespo, has been indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury on 18 counts.
Felony charges include racketeering, violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, conspiracy to commit theft, theft and burglary.
A team of what Neal calls “professional boosters,” including Torres, stole more than 200 iPods from Target stores in Douglas, Arapahoe, Jefferson, Adams and Boulder counties May 20 and 21, according to authorities.
Ten days later, Neal said, the group hit Target stores in Chicago. On June 3, the ring turned up in California, once again working Target stores for iPods.
The value of the stolen iPods, which generally cost $150 to $500, was more than $15,000 in Jefferson County alone.
The thieves would enter a Target store and split up, authorities said. Two would fill a shopping cart with large items and then would meet a third person in the electronics department.
The cart piled with items was used to block cameras or employees’ view. The iPods would be hidden in the cart and taken out of the stores in bags, according to authorities.
Torres is being held without bail on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold in San Jose, Calif., on unrelated charges. Jefferson County officials are seeking to extradite him.
Professional shoplifters are a growing problem across the country, with one study finding such thefts cost a family $400 a year as merchants compensate for losses, said Richard Hollinger, a University of Florida criminologist.
“These are organized criminals who are operating throughout the country, moving from one geographic area to another or hitting a particular chain of stores,” Hollinger said.
IPods are vulnerable “because they are desirable and small,” Hollinger said. “What is most likely to be stolen is what’s hot, and right now, it’s iPods.”
Denver Post researcher Barbara Hudson contributed to this report.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
