A Michigan man was arrested Wednesday for corrupt business influence, a level 5 felony, and theft, a level 6 felony.
Sean Patrick Chandler, 26, Ionia, Mich., was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail Wednesday on a $10,250 bond.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed by the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office, on Dec. 21, 2015, Warsaw Police Department officer Jeff Ticknor met with a Meijer loss prevention employee in regards to a theft of $11,192.46 worth of merchandise.
The employee advised three males entered the Meijer store located in Warsaw. They retrieved a shopping cart, proceeded to the baby department and removed two infant car seats from their boxes and placed them in the cart. The three males then walked to a secure electronic storage area where they gained access by removing a padlock with a bolt cutter. Once they gained access to the storage area, they loaded electronic equipment into the two car seat boxes. When they finished loading the two boxes, they sealed them up, proceeded to the check out area and paid cash for the two car seats.
As the three men exited the store, the alarm was triggered and two cashiers walked over to check the boxes against the men’s receipt. The cashiers were unable to figure out why the alarm was set off, so they allowed the three men to exit the store.
Meijer’s loss prevention employee provided Ticknor with photographs and in-store surveillance video of the three subjects that stole the electronic equipment. The employee also provided the Meijer Organized Retail Crime Investigations Bulletin informing them of similar thefts where the same incidents occurred at other Meijer stores beginning Nov. 15, 2015, up through the Dec. 15, 2015, theft. The security report identified four suspects that were involved in the organized crime store thefts and provided photographs of the individuals involved.
Ticknor was able to compare the photographs from Meijer Crime Bulletin with the subjects involved in the Warsaw store theft and identified one subject as Shane Patrick Chandler.
