HOUSTON -- Police arrested three people accused of committing a crime spree at Houston-area Walmart stores.
Lesley Bonilla, Ivan Emilio Martinez, and Josselyn Espinal were caught attempting to rip off the Walmart on Silber Road, police said.
Police said since August of last year, 24 Walmarts have been hit by the three suspects.
Walmart cooperated with the investigation conducted by the regional Major Crimes Task Force and circulated a sort of wanted flyer to all area Walmart stores.
“Their lookouts worked. They put them out to the stores and those employees recognized the suspects when they came into the store and knew that they were involved in other crimes,” said Sgt. Scott Atwood with the Houston Police Major Offenders Unit.
The thieves knew exactly what to target—high dollar but small items, nearly all from the beauty section or pharmacy. Items like 71 boxes of Prilosec valued at $25 a piece, total value $1,700, or Fusion razor cartridges, 142 of them at $14 with a retail value of nearly $2,000.
Other popular items include, Rogaine, Whitestrips and Claritin—all high-value items.
In just one job, the crooks netted more than $16,000 in retail value from more than 55 different types of items.
The gang hit all over the city, but mainly in the suburbs, Lake Conroe to Katy, College Station to League City, Livingston to Angleton.
Most of the crimes cost the stores more than $10,000 worth of items each, the topper $26,820.17, from the Walmart in Sealy on Oct. 8 of last year.
In all, the crime spree netted nearly $250,000.
The crooks went in and out the front door, but the goods didn’t.
Police said they would use plastic storage bins on sale inside and fill them up with the items, then they found a way to sneak the bins out through the home and garden center, picked them up outside the store and just drove away.
“’They go, not just around the City of Houston, but all over the state and the nation. Going and hitting and getting products,” said Sgt. Atwood.
