Organized Retail Crime Group Hits A Loxahatchee Walgreens, $200k Recovered, 4 Arrested
PBSO, BSO, Homeland Security, and El Dorado Task Force Continue To Investigate
LOXAHATCHEE, FL – Boca Post (BocaPost.com) — Four men were arrested after they were observed shoplifting from a Walgreens in Loxahatchee and then ramming a PBSO vehicle.
The Loxahatchee shoplifting incident was far from an isolated one. Members of PBSO’s Detective Bureau and Street Crimes Unit have been investigating the men as persons of interest in many retail thefts of pharmacies across Palm Beach County.
On Monday, February 6th, 2023, undercover agents were surveilling the vehicle of interest and followed it to a Walgreens at 15940 Orange Blvd. in Loxahatchee. At that point, an undercover agent inside the store observed the four men, Joel Walkes, Roderick Taff, Yoshua Holland, and Cecil Jones, all walk down different aisles of the store. The agent reports that the suspects then began to conceal merchandise down their pants. At some point a store employee approached the men and told them they needed to stop stealing and get out of the store.
The men exited the store, activating the anti-theft alarm at the door, and fled to their vehicle. A PBSO vehicle then attempted to stop the suspect’s vehicle; however, the suspect rammed the PBSO vehicle and sped off. PBSO’s well-known no-chase policy for non-violent felonies prevented the sergeant from chasing the suspect. That no-chase policy did not stop the aviation unit from tracking the suspects all the way to the Broward County line. Once in Broward County, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office took over.
BSO tracked the vehicle to the 3000 block of Pacific Point Place in Lauderdale Lakes. BSO then made contact with the suspects who were taken into custody without incident. One of the suspects dropped two garbage bags that contained over-the-counter pharmaceuticals valued at $4,536.
A search of the apartment was later conducted where investigators found more than $200,000 worth of over-the-counter medications and other products.
BSO says that multiple law enforcement agencies are continuing to investigate the group. Homeland Security Investigations Miami Office and El Dorado Task Force – South are also investigating.
Cecil Jones, Riderick Taff, Yashua Holland, Joel Walks, all from Broward County, are facing many new charges in Palm Beach County.
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