Hamilton police say Best Buy stores may be the target for “an organized theft ring” in which alleged thieves have been deactivating RFID tags before leaving with store inventory.
Detectives say that so far only the Ancaster Best Buy has been targeted, but believe the suspects may have driven to other stores in the scheme.
Three men were able to remove tags on Jan. 9 from the store on Martindale Crescent shortly after 3:00 p.m., according to investigators. Store security became suspicious and reported the trio, who left quickly and drove away in a black 2014 Mazda 6 with a Quebec licence plate.
“The three males while inside the store used a device that deactivates the theft-deterrent lock on high-priced secured items so the security alarm was not triggered when they left the store,” Const. Lorraine Edwards told Global News.
“They targeted higher-priced items but small enough to conceal. Expensive headphones were taken from the Ancaster store.”
Security later identified the men through images on a store camera, detectives say.
The first suspect is described as an approximately 30-year-old man, about five feet 10 inches tall with a medium build, wearing a grey jacket with fur, a black hoodie, black sweatpants and shoes with white soles.
The second is about six feet tall with blonde hair and a heavy build. He’s believed to be about 30 years old and was wearing a black Canada Goose jacket with fur on the hood, a white shirt, black sweatpants and Nike shoes.
Police say the third suspect is about 30 years old and six foot two with a slim build. He wore a black baseball cap, black jacket, white T-shirt, blue jeans and brown Timberland shoes.