August 26, 2023 - Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials report as part of an ongoing mission to stop the rise of Organized Retail Theft throughout Los Angeles County, which has caused a drastic impact to the citizens and businesses served by the Sheriff’s Department, the LASD Major Crimes Bureau Metro Detail – Burglary-Robbery Taskforce (BRTF) worked over a two day period with the East Los Angeles Station Crime Enforcement Team, Summer Enforcement Team and Nike Loss Prevention to apprehend suspects, deter criminal activity, and protect life and property at the Nike Community Store in East Los Angeles.
On August 24th, 2023, and August 25th, 2023, Detectives with BRTF conducted various surveillance operations in conjunction with Nike Loss Prevention at the Nike Community Store, which has experienced the same brazen styles of mass larceny and Organized Retail Theft as other businesses in the county. As a result of the operation, 10 arrests were made, 4 of which were felonies associated with Organized Retail Theft, along with over $3000 dollars of recovered merchandise returned to Nike. Two of the suspects had outstanding arrest warrants, one of which was a shoplifting warrant.
BRTF Detectives and Deputies from the East Los Angeles Station teams identified two criminal street gangs associated with Organized Retail Theft. During the operation, the East Los Angeles Crime Enforcement Team and Summer Enforcement Team deputies assisted with the arrest of a suspect associated with the theft of a cargo truck.
The Burglary-Robbery Task Force is an active partner with the Los Angeles Police Department and participating agencies throughout Los Angeles County collaborating in the recently formed Organized Retail Theft Taskforce. The planning, execution, and intelligence gathered from operations like these are shared and expanded upon throughout the law enforcement community in our region to better combat the plague of retail theft affecting the community.
The LASD MCB BRTF was formed over ten years ago to combat the ever-increasing trend of organized crews who are committing residential burglaries along with violent robbery crime trends. The MCB BRTF works closely in support of all LASD station’s detective bureaus, as well as other Southern California law enforcement agencies.
Residents and business owners are reminded to secure their properties, be aware of suspicious and unusual persons or vehicles, and to alert their local law enforcement immediately if suspicious activity is observed.
Residents should call 911 if a life-threatening emergency is detected and/or their local police business line if a suspicious person or vehicle is observed. 
Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
