San Jose police have arrested two men in connection with dozens of organized retail thefts across the city, the department announced Wednesday.
Jaime Flores, 46, and Thomas Sapiniso, 37, are accused of committing over 70 such crimes and making off with more than $75,000 in stolen merchandise, police said.
Police said the suspects stole items from various stores, including Target, NIKE, REI, Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods.
Flores was arrested on Dec. 16 following a grand theft at Westgate Mall, police said. He was later booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail.
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On Jan. 31, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Sapinoso, who was already in custody at the jail following an arrest for an unrelated incident, police said.
Surveillance video shows them walking out of a Nike store carrying what investigators say are stolen shoes.
“It’s premeditated, they go in coordinated. They have a vehicle waiting for them, and they know what merchandise they're going to grab, obviously things that cost more money,” said Stacie Shih of SJPD.
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Police claim the $75,000 is just a fraction of what the two men stole during a crime spree that stretched from July 2023 to January 2024.
Police also say a recent $8.4 million grant from the state helped fund the people and tech they needed to crack this case.
Those funds were intended specifically to crack down on organized retail theft.
“It helps us direct our resources, our personnel. Obviously, you know, the San Jose Police Department has really been dealing with a staffing shortage that makes it hard for us to get to a lot of cases so this grant really helps us focus our resources whether it's field, investigative, or technological resources,” said Shih.
Shopper Esteban is glad to hear someone's been arrested.
“People are just kind of getting the hang of going to places, taking stuff and going, so it’s good to hear they’re cracking down and some people are getting caught,” he said.
But police say there's still a lot more work to do, including finding the group of thieves who targeted a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in San Jose in November.
