Fourteen people were arrested in what authorities described as the country’s largest organized retail theft case in the history of Home Depot, prosecutors and law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
The highly organized criminal enterprise carried out hundreds of heists at several Southern California Home Depot stores. On some days, the thieves, who operated almost daily, hit every Home Depot store in Ventura County.
Nine of the 14 people arrested have been charged in the investigation that started in mid-January and included stores in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, according to prosecutors. Charges of organized retail theft, grand theft, receiving stolen property and other crimes were part of a 34-page criminal complaint filed in Ventura County Superior Court.
Thefts over several years amounted to about $10 million in losses.