From Roanoke City Police: A large scale initiative is underway to focus on the reduction of shoplifting offenses in the city. This initiative will include several steps during the coming months to target offenders. The first step in this initiative is as follows:
On June 5, 2014 at 10 a.m. seven teams of Roanoke Police Officers, along with partners from state and federal authorities, executed search warrants on seven businesses simultaneously following an approximate year long investigation. The investigation is on-going, and has been supported by local businesses. Officers also served five men with indictments involving multiple counts of buying stolen goods. Investigators secured search warrants for the following locations and served the following men with warrants for their arrest:
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Pure Station, 1102 Orange Avenue NW
Indicted: Jalal Abdulhamid Al-Rekabki, age 41, of Roanoke
Charges: 3 counts of buying stolen goods
K&H Grocery, 1112 Melrose Avenue NW
Indicted: Thomas Hereman Jones, age 64 of Roanoke
Charges: 2 counts of buying stolen goods
Community Grocery, 124 Elm Avenue SW
Indicted: Iyad Abdallah Alshami, age 36, of Roanoke
Charges: 3 counts of buying stolen goods
P&N Market, 404 Elm Avenue SE
Charges pending against suspect.
Triangle Mart, 2607 Cove Road
Indicted: Sufyan M. Alkhawaja, age 23, of Roanoke
Charges: 3 counts of buying stolen goods
M&S Stop Mart, 502 8th Street NW
Indicted: Suspect has not been served with criminal papers. Suspect believed to have left country.
Charges: 3 counts of buying stolen goods
Toni’s Grocery, 605 11th Street NW
Indicted: Ahmad Sharif Ibrahim, age 44, of Roanoke
Charges: 3 counts of buying stolen goods
All indictments are felony counts. The evidence indicates shoplifters would steal from Roanoke area businesses and sell stolen items to individuals at these seven stores in order to obtain money to buy drugs. Investigators will now begin the process of evidence analysis. This investigation continues and we will undertake several steps over the coming months to target property crimes offenses.
Part Two of this initiative will start immediately and this is only the beginning.
