SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Friday that five people were arrested in one of the California's largest retail theft busts pleaded guilty to federal crimes has been been sentenced.
In the Bay Area Friday, Bonta announced the sentencing of five people involved in an organized crime ring responsible for the theft of millions from Northern California retail stores. The leader of the crime ring will serve six years in prison.
Bonta said retail theft may be making headlines today, but his office is working to combat it.
“You will be held accountable," Bonta said. "You will face consequences. Today is an example of that.”
California critics point to a 7-year-old ballot measure that reduced certain theft and drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. But Bonta used existing laws to get pleas in one of the state's biggest retail theft busts.
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The case is from nearly a year and a half ago, and many retail stores are not taking Bonta's word for it. Security guard companies reported to Political Reporter Morgan Rynor that demand is up.
Suleiman Wardek is the CEO of American Global Security. The company operates throughout the state and employs over 400 security guards.
“At the moment there is a high demand for security guard services, especially from retailers," Wardek said.
So high, he said he has to turn new clients down right now or tell clients it'll be a while before they get one.
“Especially the past couple of weeks it increased by like 7%,” Wardek said.
Wardek's company is not alone. Three companies said they're also seeing a large increase in demand. One company said they're getting two to three new requests a day.
“To be honest, it's tough to recruit new guards," Wardek said. "It's been a challenge for us.“
Wardek said it's mostly mom and pop shops that are calling for security guards.
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Rachel Michelin, the president of California's Retailers Association, applauds the attorney general on the announcement but said it’s not an adequate warning shot because the case it too old.
“Sitting for two years lets these people know they can continue this behavior and not have the consequences that go with it," Michelin said.
The Retailers Association has been putting cases together themselves that Michelin said are ready to go.
“But now we need prosecutors and the attorney general to really take it over the finish line that also shows these criminals that they're going to be held accountable that when these cases are put together, they're going to quickly be prosecuted," Michelin said.
Although there are no statewide crime numbers on 2021 yet, Michelin said there’s no doubt retail theft is increasing. In coordination with the National Retail Federation, they found three out of the 10 worst retail theft areas are in California: Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland, and Sacramento.
