Cops: Staples Shoplifting Ring Hit Stores in 4 States

A Brooklyn man charged with shoplifting seventoner cartridges from the on June 21 allegedly was part of an organized retail crime ring that stole more than $100,000 in printer ink from Staples stores in New Jersey and also hit stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire, authorities said.

The man, Daquan Dollar, 24, was one of three alleged shoplifters arrested Friday in New Hampshire on felony organized retail crime related charges by Tilton, N.H., police, according to a Tilton Police news release.

Lt. Darren Dachisen said on Monday that Madison police detectives have been sharing information with other agencies investigating similar cases.

"They would target toner at 100 dollars a box, at 200 dollars a box and they were averaging between 2 to 3 thousand dollars per store in thefts every time they hit," Tilton Police Chief Robert Cormier told WMUR.

The station reported it likely will be tried as a federal case and that at least $60,000 in toner ink, tablet computers and calculators believed to have been stolen by the ring were recovered in a Nashua, N.H., hotel room.

Dollar was out on bail on the Madison charges when he wound up behind bars on the New Hampshire charges about a week later, authorities said.

Tilton police arrested Dollar and the two other defendants—Louissant Kashif Trumaine, 20, and Ronnell Samuals, 27, both of Brooklyn—and learned they were wanted in connection with other crimes in New Jersey on June 25, Connecticut and Massachusetts on June 26, and New Hampshire on June 28.

One suspect, Dwayne Dollar, 27, , police said.

In New Jersey, the ring allegedly was responsible for over $100,000 dollars in thefts from Staples stores, Cormier.

"All officers and detectives worked well together on scene to locate the suspects quickly and make their arrest," Cormier said of the Friday arrests. He said Tilton police were "glad we were able to help get them in custody.”

In Massachusetts, they allegedly hits stores in Boston, Cambridge, Brighton, Framingham, Shrewsbury, Natick, Worcester and Millbury. Then on June 28, they left for New Hampshire and allegedly hit stores in Nashua, Bedford and Manchester, before being spotted in Concord and then heading to Tilton.

The arrests in Tilton came when police were flagged by Staples employees, and a regional loss prevention manager told police he just saw three or four men fitting the description of suspects involved in thefts from Staples stores.

When the alleged shoplifters realized store employees recognized them, one of them threw a “booster bag,” a special bag used by shoplifters to avoid setting off security devices, and the four men then ran out of the store and split up, police said. Two ran into neighboring stores, one ran into a vehicle and one fled toward a mall.

One man allegedly hid in an employee stock room of a nearby store and then fled out a fire exit, setting off an alarm, and running along railroad tracks before being caught by police.

Police stopped two other men allegedly attempting to flee in a car with New York plates.

Dollar was released the day after his June 21 arrest in Madison on $25,000 bail. He was charged with eluding arrest, resisting arrest and shoplifting in the Madison incident after he allegedly ran from police and was chased down by Patrolman James Cavezza on foot and Patrolwoman Lisa Esposito assisted with the arrest.