“IT WAS INCREDIBLE WHAT WE FOUND IN THERE; DON’T COME TO OUR CITY …BECAUSE WE WILL HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE” CHIEF JOSHI WARNS THIEVES; A DEEP DIG INTO HOW STILL ONGOING CASE WAS CRACKED
by Larry Freeman
A recent APD bust of a major shoplifting ring that operated brashly and efficiently around the BayArea was initially set in motion by the initiative of a single APD officer, Mike Tangataevaha who took a close, thoughtful look at photo evidence and an inventory of goods taken gathered in a 2/9 heist at The Old Navy store at Alameda South Shore.
Tangataevaha connected those dots with other grand thefts tied to thefts of other retail operations in and out of Alameda, and a pattern emerged, showing that a band of the same persons were involved and which appeared to be part of an organized crime operation, that turned worked in highly methodical and organized fashion.
“Our suspicions were further increased once we realized that loss from other retailers outside of Alameda were being delivered there,” said APD Chief Nishant Joshi referring to the group’s base of operations.
Tangataevaha was the lead investigator in this case and his early efforts starting on February 9th, led APD to locate and surveil the suspected Oakland residence the ring used as a storage facility.
As the investigation progressed, authorities identified suspects who would hit the stores and burglarize them as well as persons who received the merchandise and prepared it for resale, typical of a fencing operation.
What police saw led them to conclude that the site was indeed home to a major fencing operation, with criminals selling off the goods online, at flea market venues and wholesaling to people who might come in to shop on site. “It was much like you would see at a (retail) warehouse or another retailer,” said Joshi, in a face to face interview with ANN.
The locale contained a largesse of over $75,000 worth of allegedly hot merchandise, arranged almost as if in a brick and mortar retail store.
Among the items were shoes, toiletries, clothing, and women’s purses, in some cases still on their store hangers.
To make matters worse for the suspects as the case against them builds, APD recovered multiple inventory logs, business operations and finance lists and over $10,000 in cash and multiple stolen vehicles, all evidence that will presumably be used as evidence by Alameda County Prosecutors and impact charging decisions.
APD had valuable assistance from members of the California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force and with Old Navy’s Loss Prevention team.
An APD press release gave the Old Navy team high kudos, saying they “played a pivotal role” in the operation’s success.
Additional corporate resources who provided evidence to APD to find commonality of the alleged perpetrators were loss prevention team members from Walgreen’s, Lens Crafters, Walmart, Safeway, Nordstron, Kohl’s, Carters and Ross.
After about three weeks of observing suspects dropping off and taking in the allegedly stolen merchandise from numerous thefts, APD had sufficient probable cause to obtain a search warrant.
CHP Officers working for the Golden Gate Division of The Organized Retail Crime Task Force — a state authorized anti shoplift police assistance program — served the search warrant early in the week of March 4th-8th and, after police entered, they were amazed at the quantity of goods discovered , some with store retail tags still on them.
Several persons were inside the structure at the time of the raid, and are now subject to continued questioning and investigation. One arrest was made at the time.
“It was incredible what we found in there,” said Joshi in light of an estimated eight truckloads of merchandise the thieves had amassed in their sprees.
Tangataevaha is one of two members of APD’s “Community Resource Unit” along with Officer Saif Ali, who was commended in February for his investigative efforts to help take down another shoplifting enterprise.
In that case, Ali identified a a group that hit a beauty store in town, leading to arrests for grand felony involving $22,000 in stolen merchandise here and in other regional locales.
Together, Ali and Tangataevaha have made some significant strides to help stem the tide of this all too common crime where individuals, pairs, small groups and well orchestrated operators have been bleeding retail stores with near impunity of the past several years.
Often times store clerks and managers just watch with feelings of helplessness, dismay and frustration as the crooks stride out with goods in hand, believing that employees, and in some cases, security guards will not dare stop them.
In one shoplifting incident at the often targeted Walgreen’s at Southshore, one of a pair of young teen age appearing girls, when asked by a bystander what she had in her bag and why she was stealing snipped back: “Nothing will happen. Nobody cares anyway.”
That notion, of course, does not pertain to APD in general, nor to Tangataevaha nor Ali.
Since the beginning of the month, over a nine day period through March 8th , APD’s Crime Graphics map shows no Petty Theft, Larceny or Burglary calls at Walgreen’s, for example, compared to five such reported incidents in the month of February.
“They are not tied to the radio,” said Joshi, meaning that their small team can focus on police work not limited to the job of patrol officers who often respond from call to call around town and don’t have time to take on the extensive legwork required to crack a complex case as this. That lets them focus on investigative work and other matters, said Joshi.
“He put together a fantastic case, and I am extremely proud of him,” said Joshi regarding Officer Tangataevaha
APD gathered valuable evidence from a multiplicity of photo sources, private in store and outdoor security cameras, police body cameras and car cameras, and Automated License Plate Readers located at all routes into and out of Alameda (and in other key locations) to assist in this case
“Don’t come to our city to commit those crimes because we will locate you and hold you accountable.” –Chief Joshi
The Chief did not rule out the prospect of other counties undertaking their own prosecutions if APD’s investigation points to other jurisdictions, but he said, “I am confident that Alameda County is going to be involved in the prosecution of this case.”
“The investigation is ongoing, and I expect more arrests to occur after this, ”Joshi said, adding that APD is still in the process of preparing the evidence and elements of the case to provide prosecutors with the information they need to take the next steps in the process.
As of this time, APD has not determined if the alleged fencing operation has ties to larger organized criminal entities beyond Oakland and The Bay Area, or was operating as an independent criminal group.
At the close of the interview, Joshi provided a message, and threw down a gauntlet of sorts to would-be criminals who find Alameda to be an attractive target as APD continues to ramp up its force numbers: “Don’t come to our city to commit those crimes because we will locate you and hold you accountable.”
