A Longview man and woman have been accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of products from local Safeway stores then selling the goods online.
The suspects, Nicholas Lee Berger, 24, and Marlena Jean Kennedy, 25, may have made more than $50,000 on the scam, Longview police detective Kyle Sahim said Friday.
On Thursday, police served a search warrant on a home at 297 Baltimore St., Longview, where they found at least $15,000 worth of Crest teeth whitening strips, men's razors, the over-the-counter anti-baldness medication Rogaine and other "high value" items that had been stolen from area Safeway stores, Sahim said.
Berger and Kennedy are suspected of selling the items on eBay. Ebay officials told investigators that preliminary totals show Berger and Kennedy made at least $50,000 from sales on the online auction site, Sahim said.
Berger and Kennedy are suspected of stealing "regularly, if not daily" from the grocery stores since at least October, Sahim said. Most of the thefts, he said, were from the Safeway store at 2930 Ocean Beach Highway.
Safeway officials learned of the alleged thefts recently, then reviewed store security videos showing Berger and Kennedy had been targeting the stores since last fall and perhaps earlier, Sahim said. Safeway's own investigators alerted Longview police of the case last week, he said.
The allegedly stolen goods found at the Baltimore Street house were stacked in a bedroom that was empty, save for a computer. Sahim said there was so much merchandise it took up "a good portion of the bedroom."
Also found in the house were a handgun, heroin, drug packaging materials and scales, Sahimi said.
Berger was booked into the Cowlitz County Jail Thursday on suspicion of first-degree possession of stolen property, first-degree retail theft with extenuating circumstances, trafficking in stolen property, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, drug manufacturing/delivery, drug possession and being a felon possessing a firearm. His bail was set at $30,000.
Kennedy is being held on $10,000 bail on suspicion of first-degree possession of stolen property, first-degree retail theft with extenuating circumstances and trafficking in stolen property.
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Ho hum... just another typical ebaY seller arrest story. Dangerous drugs, illegal firearms, the victim contacting law enforcement as opposed to ebaY's 'sophisticated proactive anti fraud systems catching them.
Best of all: tax free! yeah! Why should people have to pay sales taxes on stolen goods? lmao.
