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March 1990
STORE DIVERSION BURGLARIES
By
Detective Robert P. Meiners
Lincolnwood, Illinois, Police Department
Store diversion burglaries have plagued retailers across the
United States for many years. These crimes occur when
offenders, acting in concert with one another, remove valuables
from commercial establishments while employing diversionary
tactics. It is estimated that retail losses due to such thefts
have totaled between $2-3 million within the past 15 years. (1)
OFFENDER CHARACTERISTICS
According to police intelligence information, a core group
of offenders migrated from Canada and settled in the Chicago
area. Members of the group, who have identified themselves as
Yugoslavian gypsies, are men and women of all ages, even
children. These individuals have dark complexions, with dark
hair and eyes. As a result owners and managers of victimized
businesses frequently describe them as Mexican or Hispanic.
Members of the group use several aliases and dates of birth
in an attempt to create confusion and hinder proper
identification if arrested or stopped for questioning. Although
they are most frequently identified with store diversion
burglaries, there is documentation that they have become
criminally active in passport fraud, fraud against insurance
companies, robberies, residential burglaries, and drug
trafficking in recent years.
TRAVEL PATTERNS
These individuals travel extensively throughout the United
States as a group, employing their criminal expertise; all but
eight States (2) have reported monetary losses attributed to them.
While committing a crime, they will use as many as 12 vehicles,
usually large, luxury cars, and up to 30 people at one time. The
vehicles are equipped with citizen band radios and cellular
phones, and in most cases, have legally issued license plates.
However, at times, the license plates have been switched, bent,
obliterated, or removed to prevent or inhibit identification.
These offenders will also fly commercial airliners to their
destinations and then rent cars, which they will return to a
different airport. For example, in 1986, a group flew from
Chicago to Los Angeles, where they rented vehicles. After
committing several diversion burglaries of large department
stores in California and Oregon, they abandoned the cars at the
San Francisco airport and then flew back to Chicago.
TACTICS EMPLOYED
Once a business has been targeted, the females of the group,
who are responsible for committing the burglary, usually enter
first. These women are dressed in colorful long skirts and tops
and usually carry no purse. The men, typically dressed in casual
western wear, then follow the women into the establishment.
These men are often accompanied by children who assist with the
diversion.
The diversion begins when the women attempt to confuse store
employees by asking nonsensical questions. For example, in a
California case, an offender asked for ``beer without yeast''
and for chickens that could be stuffed with steak. In Milwaukee,
WI, one female subject asked the clerk where the dietetic baby
food was kept and then insisted that the clerk personally
accompany her to the location. In another Wisconsin grocery
mart, a female offender distracted a store employee for several
minutes by constantly inquiring about the contents of a jar of
beef sticks, asking if they were pork chops.
Some offenders feign illness and threaten police action if
clerks and/or managers do not assist them. They have also
pretended to be store workers who will lead legitimate customers
away from the area where the valuables (usually cash and jewelry)
are being removed.
Shoplifting is occasionally used as a deliberate diversion
tactic to lure the manager from the office area where the safe is
located. And in extreme cases, female offenders have exposed
private body parts in an attempt to stop store employees, who
have discovered a burglary in progress, from calling the police.
While these distractions are taking place, other members of
the group seek out safes, money pouches, or rear storage areas
where valuables are kept. In one particular case involving a
jewelry store, a clerk was asked to clean and gift wrap some very
expensive stemware, engaging all employees in the store to make
the sale. While the clerk was doing this, all the valuables in
the display cases were removed. The offenders then advised store
personnel that they would return later with payment and exited
the store. Only after they left was the jewelry discovered
missing.
These offenders will also make very small purchases with
large denomination bills. This forces the clerk to hand over a
substantial amount of change, enabling offenders to discover
where the larger amounts of store cash are kept.
TARGETS
The size of the establishment, or the type of business, is
inconsequential, as along as valuables are present. Small
markets, large stores, and even shopping malls have been
targeted. The offenders have also ``hit'' the same chain store
at different locations on the same day after learning the layout
and security of the stores. The pattern for this type of offense
is to strike as many stores as possible in a particular area,
often crossing jurisdictional boundaries.
Oftentimes, store losses will not be discovered for hours or
days after the crime has been committed. In some cases, store
employees have even been accused of committing the crime, because
store managers often mistake the crimes committed by groups using
diversionary tactics with employee theft.
POLICE/PROSECUTOR STRATEGIES
The best evidence is a video tape of the event. Absent this,
known offender photographs are the next best resource in
attempting to build a case.
If an agency is successful in making an arrest, one
individual, always a male group member, will come forward to act
as a spokesman for the offenders and will usually offer
restitution in lieu of prosecution. When faced with the prospect
of making an identification in the store, owners and employees,
who actually did not see the crime being committed, opt for
restitution, which frees the victim from court appearances.
The criminal case itself may be fundamentally weak since, in
all probability, there were several group members present when
the offense occurred and little or no evidence as to who actually
took the valuables. In such instances, police and prosecuting
attorneys, faced with the prospect of a weak case, may also favor
restitution. This, at least, identifies the offenders and
returns the property to its rightful owner. However, since many
stores are targeted in the area, and cases of store diversion
burglaries are not prosecuted, restitution amounts to simply
little more than the price of doing business for these offenders.
Prosecution can be problematic because no two jurisdictions
prosecute cases alike, considering the fact that these offenders
attack numerous stores in a given area. Additionally, when faced
with the prospect of jail, offenders have left the jurisdiction.
With their adeptness for using aliases, these offenders remain
undetected for long periods of time, and in some cases,
completely avoid apprehension.
On a positive note, however, some jurisdictions have been
successful in prosecuting these offenders by building a case
based on the group's collective activity or standard method of
operation. Other options employed by affected jurisdictions may
include Federal charges, such as Interstate Flight to Avoid
Prosecution, as the offenders travel across the United States.
In some instances, local or Federal racketeering statutes may be
applied on a Federal level or locally if the jurisdiction has a
similar statute.
The following recommendations may be helpful in apprehending
and prosecuting these criminals:
* Verify identity of offenders through FBI fingerprint checks
and FBI number
* Educate local retailers as to the methods used in store
diversion burglaries
* Ensure all restitution agreements are made after the arrest
or indictment
* Photograph and fingerprint all suspects, even if the case is
too weak for prosecution and/or restitution is accepted
* Create a clearinghouse within each State for this type of
information and a nationwide network to exchange it
* Enact or use existing RICO statutes to prosecute these
cases, if this type of crime is considered the work of an
organized criminal enterprise
* Update information on the ever-changing tactics of these
criminals and circulate among the widest law enforcement
audience possible
CONCLUSION
Due to the mobility of these criminals and their stealth and
teamwork in committing store diversion burglaries, law
enforcement will have to devise creative strategies to deal with
them. Patrol officers responding to the crime scene should be
well informed about this type of crime so that they can gather
critical evidence and witness statements. Follow-up
investigators must know where to obtain information and
assistance in order to bring these cases to a successful
conclusion. Law enforcement managers must ensure that
information derived concerning this type of activity is shared
and disseminated to the widest law enforcement audience possible.
Store diversion burglary is becoming a common problem in the
United States. Law enforcement must be aware of its elements,
must develop strategies to police and prosecute these crimes, and
must act aggressively in the pursuit of these strategies.
FOOTNOTES
(1) ``Criminal Intelligence Bulletin,'' prepared by the
Lincolnwood, Il, Police Department and the Indiana State Police,
April 1989, p. 30.
(2) The States are Alaska, Hawaii, Arkansas, Rhode Island,
West Virginia, Kentucky, Montana, and Vermont.
______________
An index that includes photographs and identifiers on
approximately 110 offenders who commit store diversion burglaries
can be obtained by writing to the Lincolnwood, IL, Police
Department, Investigations Unit, 6918 N. Keeler Ave.,
Lincolnwood, IL 60646