Police Bust Distraction Theft Ring

Beggars can’t be choosers, and it seems these alleged crooks weren’t too picky either.

Police allege that a group of men and women robbed a wide variety of retail outlets, stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.

Their targets included the LCBO, Staples Business Depot, Home Depot, grocery stores and pharmacies all over southern Ontario.

And their methods were messier than most.

“You’ve all heard of the ketchup bandits that go around and squirt ketchup on people. This is a variation,” Detective Lester Wright claimed at a press conference.

“They would go into, for example, the liquor store, and what they would do is break a few bottles and [distract] the floor personnel.

“When they’re distracted, they would walk out with shopping carts full of booze and liquor.”

They’ve allegedly been in action for over a year, and the investigation is still on-going, but cops were able to nab one suspect in September.

The woman was arrested by security guards at Home Depot.

“At the time of her arrest, she falsely identified herself as Andrea Combs,” Wright alleged.

“She was brought to the station for investigation and one of our investigators, at 22 Division, recognized her from a previous project that we had running in 2005.”

Because of her arrest, officers then began to stake out the above-mentioned stores. They watched hours of surveillance video and allegedly discovered several robberies.

“Large scale thefts were uncovered that had been reported – and some had not even been reported,” Wright described.

And as he pointed out, it’s not a victimless crime. In some cases, the cost of the stolen merchandise is passed along to the consumer.

“For example, the LCBO, you know, there’s health care, social services that do not benefit from getting some of the funds that Ontario government and the population gets from those services,” he continued.

And, Wright cautioned, they’re not stealing this for their own personal use.

“Clearly…they are not drinking that amount of booze. It’s gone somewhere. If anyone in the City of Toronto knows where any of this booze has been diverted to, if there’s some retail outlet or licenced premise that’s getting booze at a discount, give us a call, and we’ll follow it up.”

A total of seven suspects have been identified and five have been arrested. Members of the alleged ring are currently facing 158 criminal charges.

The accusations run the gamut from theft under $5,000, conspiracy to commit a summary conviction offence, possession of property, and participating in an organized crime ring to failing to comply with probation.

Two of the suspects are still outstanding. They’re pictured above:

Karlene Alexander, 40, and Brett Cutajar, 41, are both wanted in connection with the thefts.

Click here to see security camera video.

The five people arrested are:

Kathleen Barry, 39, of Toronto, is charged with:

1) 14 counts of Theft Under,
2) 15 counts of Conspiracy to Commit Summary Conviction Offence,
3) Attempt Theft Under,
4) two counts of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime (under),
5) Participate in a Criminal Organization.

Colbert Charles, 41, of Toronto, is charged with:

1) two counts of Theft Under,
2) Conspiracy to Commit Summary Conviction Offence.

James McCaa, 54, of Toronto, is charged with:

1) eight counts of Theft Under,
2) nine counts of Conspiracy to Commit Summary Conviction Offence,
3) Attempt Theft Under,
4) Participate in a Criminal Organization.

Andrea Coombs, 38, of Toronto, is charged with:

1) six counts of Theft Under,
2) six counts of Conspiracy to Commit Summary Conviction Offence,
3) Participate in a Criminal Organization.

Allan Brody, 39, of Toronto, is charged with:

1) Theft Under,
2) Conspiracy to Commit Summary Conviction Offence.