Two men are facing charges in connection with a theft scheme targeting Miami-Dade Home Depot stores that led to thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise being stolen, authorities said.
Yoel Gonzalez-Lora, 51, was arrested Tuesday on charges including organized scheme to defraud and retail theft, an arrest report said.
His alleged accomplice, 61-year-old Jorge Torres, was arrested on a grand theft charge in May, court records showed.
According to the report, Gonzalez-Lora and Torres were identified as suspects amid an ongoing investigation into numerous thefts at Home Depot stores.
The pair would enter the stores at the same time and Torres would fill a cart merchandise before he staged the cart in a specific area and walked out, the report said.
Gonzalez-Lora would buy the same items and the two would meet just outside the store, where Gonzalez-Lora would give Torres the receipt and credit card to present as proof of purchase, the report said.
Torres would then grab the cart containing the unpaid merchandise and walk out without paying, the report said.
Torres was arrested on May 4 at a Home Depot on Flagler Street while stealing merchandise, but Gonzalez-Lora was able to flee, the report said.
The report said the pair was responsible for at least 14 thefts between March 9 and May 4, with the items stolen totaling over $11,800.
Gonzalez-Lora on Wednesday appeared before a judge who set his bond at $10,000 and ordered him to stay away from all Home Depot stores in Miami-Dade.
Records show Torres was released on bond.

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