Twin Falls Police Say Couple Ran Theft Scheme at Big Box Stores

TWIN FALLS, Id ( KMVT-TV / KSVT-TV ) Twin Falls Police announced they broke up a local crime ring. The group has been operating in the area for several months, targeting a number of local businesses.

Back in July a security worker for Home Depot passed along information to the Twin Falls Police Department about a possible con operation. Meanwhile, in August, 29 year old Jeana Amero was interviewed while in custody at the county jail. She told police how she and Michael Pulizzi would steal items from stores, like Target, Walgreens and Harbor Freight.

They would steal dvd's from Albertsons then turn around and sell them to Hastings. One of the schemes this group was running, is they would find receipts in the parking lot Wal-Mart and in shopping carts, enter the store, take those items off the shelf and walk up to the return counter expecting to get cash. They would also come to the Home Depot, find an expensive item such as a saw and replace the price tag with something much cheaper.

The two researched UPC codes to find matching codes from different stores. Then they'd steal an item from one store and return it to the other. At J.C. Penney, Sears, K-Mart and Macy's they stole clothing for personal use. Amero also told police that Pulizzi would steal items for other people and sell it to them for half the ticket price. Amero was arraigned Mondayand her bond has been set at $50,000. We'll keep tracking this story for you and let you know if more charges are filed.