After a seven-month long investigation, Florida pastor, Robert Dell, was arrested in early August for running an organized retail-crime ring. Dell ran a drug recovery program on the side, where he told people that attended his program to steal items from Home Depot stores all over Florida. They would bring him the items to sell. Since 2016, he sold $3 million worth of items on Ebay. This case highlights the ongoing problems retail stores others are having with theft and crime.
Retailers work with law enforcement and are implementing their own strategies to combat crime. Home Depot employs loss-prevention personnel which helped identify and arrest two people leaving the store with stolen items that were working for Dell. According to experts and authorities on loss-prevention, selling stolen goods online is the easiest way to unload them. Ebay reviews more than 500 suspicious accounts each year. Retailers inform Ebay of specific items that are targeted by thieves. In 2017, Ebay internally flagged Dell’s account for suspicious activity. In 2021, Home Depot started gathering evidence for law enforcement eventually leading to his arrest.