A trio is behind bars after they allegedly used a young girl as a shield -- and helper to pull off a coordinated camera heist at a Boca Raton Best Buy.
A trio is behind bars after they allegedly used a young girl as a shield -- and helper to pull off a coordinated camera heist at a Boca Raton Best Buy.
Deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office say they executed a search warrant early Thursday morning at a residence on Northwest 15th Vista in Boca Raton, taking 29-year-old Ginger Mitchell, 33-year-old Melissa Stevens, and 31-year-old Bryan Stevens into custody.
According to probable cause affidavits, the incident unfolded on the evening of August 15 at the Best Buy located at 20540 State Road 7.
Investigators say a beige 2005 BMW 745li pulled into the parking lot, where an unidentified man stepped out of the driver's side, popped the trunk, removed the vehicle’s license plate, and threw it inside before waiting with the car.
Surveillance cameras inside the store captured two women and a child—later identified as an 8-to-10-year-old girl carrying a pink backpack with a white stuffed toy—heading straight for the camera display section.
Deputies say the young girl positioned herself directly in front of the display while Melissa Stevens reached into the child’s backpack to grab a cutting tool. Mitchell stood nearby acting as a lookout, scanning the store and handling other display gear.
As Stevens worked to snip the security cable holding the equipment, security footage showed the child repeatedly tapping Stevens to hurry her up. Investigators allege that prior to the theft, Stevens had slipped into an employee-only back room to steal a $5 pair of scissors used in the crime.
The group made off with a silver Sony Alpha 7C II camera body and a Sony zoom lens, valued at nearly $3,700 combined. Footage showed the getaway BMW pulling up directly to the store’s front entrance just four seconds before the group sprinted out past all registers and jumped into the car.
Detectives caught a break weeks later when an agent spotted the beige BMW driving along Glades Road with an expired temporary tag. Body-worn camera footage from that traffic stop matched store surveillance images, allowing investigators to identify the suspects and secure search warrants.
All three suspects were booked into the Palm Beach County Jail. They were booked on counts of grand theft, burglary of an occupied structure, use of an anti-shoplifting countermeasure device, retail theft involving merchant distraction, dealing in stolen property, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
