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Not one, not two…but THREE grinches were captured right before Christmas!

In the beginning of last summer, retail stores at Southland Mall requested our help to curtail a growing number of grab-and-run thefts that were causing financial loss. The suspects were also assaulting the retailers during the incidents.

Our Patrol Officers and District Command Unit came to the rescue and started proactively working with the stores to try and capture the suspects. They were successful in making arrests and the number of grab-and-runs went down. One of the stores even said that they have not had a grab-and-run since the summer after the increase in police presence.

HPD Robbery Detectives were also assigned to investigate the Organized Retail Theft Rings operating in and around the City of Hayward. In July, HPD Robbery Detectives identified an Organized Retail Theft Ring that led to a well-established fencing operation being run in Oakland. Three women, all sisters, were identified as the suspects. The sisters were using two homes in Oakland as their base of operations. Both locations were utilized to store, advertise and sell the stolen items. As you can see, the locations even had an outdoor store built in the backyard, complete with shelving and clothing racks, etc. Surveillance revealed entire families purchasing stolen merchandise. The stolen property was sold with a huge discount. Property was also sold out of the homes and on Facebook Marketplace.

The sisters were recruiting groups of thieves and requesting specific merchandise to be stolen. The suspects would steal merchandise in Hayward and throughout the Bay Area. After stealing merchandise, the suspects would arrive at one of the residences and exchange the items for cash. A typical theft event could range from 5 to 10 thousand dollars’ worth of stolen merchandise. The thieves would then receive money from the suspects.

The Oakland Police Department and San Jose Police Department assisted our police department with the investigation.

On December 18th, 2019 our police department conducted an arrest and search warrant operation at both locations in Oakland. 27-year-old, Jessica Rodriguez and 24-year-old, Jessenia Rodriguez were arrested at the first location. 33-year-old Norma Rodriguez was arrested at the second location. They were arrested and booked at Hayward Police Jail. The homes were searched, and the items were collected. Retail representatives from 18 different stores came and identified items and recovered what belonged to their stores. Over $300,000 in merchandise was recovered.

On January 15, 2020 the District Attorney’s Office charged each sister with 490.4(a)(2): Felony, Organized Retail Theft in Concert with two or more, 490.4(a)(4) PC: Felony, Directing Organized Retail Theft and 496(a) PC: Felony, Receiving Stolen Property. Arrest warrants were issued for them.

On Friday, January 24, 2020 Jessica, Jessenia and Norma were arraigned.

Check out our Facebook or YouTube page for video!

https://facebook.com/HaywardPoliceDept/videos/1868317763301746/

https://youtu.be/WPAyJMfmJ9A