Crime & Safety
National Shoplifting Ring Targeting Express Stores Thwarted in Orland Park: Cops
An Indiana man working for a national shoplifting ring was caught with more than $2,200 in stolen shirts at the Orland Mall, police said.
A member of a national shoplifting ring preying on Express clothing stores across the country was apprehended at the Orland Mall, police said.
Erick Adin Angeles, 21, of Lafayette, IN, was allegedly caught with more than $2,200 worth of shirts he stole from Express.
An Express security guard reportedly spotted Angeles, also known as Carlos Martinez, and another man in the store. One of the men was "carrying a huge black shopping bag, and the guard saw one of the men "remove a huge amount of men's dress shirts from the hanger rack and place them inside the shopping bag."
The man then moved on to "remove a second large quantity of men's dress shirts from the display hanging rack and conceal them inside of the same shopping bag," police said.
The security guard nabbed Angeles after he left the store and stashed the bag in a Chevy Venture van, police said. The other man escaped and apparently remains at large.
"The merchandise was located in a foil-lined 'booster bag' which defeated the sensor detection stands," police said.
The Express security guard reportedly filled police officers in on a "retail theft crew" that is known to "work in pairs and usually steal in the range of $5,000 and $8,000 of merchandise every time," according to a department report.
"The entire Express chain is aware of these crews," police said. "The dollar value attributed to these crews is about $70,000 over numerous stores in several states."
The police said they reached out to Express Regional Michael Wassinger who told them Angeles or "his crew" had a hand "in very large dollar value retail thefts" from stores in San Francisco, Milwaukee, Lafayette, Fox Valley, Naperville, Chicago Ridge, Aurora and Orland Park.
The arrested man had an Indiana identification bearing the name Erick Adin Angeles and a Wisconsin ID for Carlos Martinez. He reportedly told police he paid $200 for the Wisconsin identification and another $200 for a fake social security card.
Angeles refused to give up his partner's name—or even concede that he was working with anyone—but was otherwise candid about his life of crime, police said.
Angeles "admitted to the theft," police said, "informing us, 'that's how he gets his money.'"
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