Home Depot Shoppers Used Clever ‘Shelf’ Trick to Steal $82K Worth of Items, Walking Right Past Staff

A CREW of Home Depot shoppers has been rounded up and arrested after they were caught stealing $82,000 worth of items with a bizarre “shelf trick.”

The thieves devised a sick scheme to nab expensive tools from the home improvement store chain, but they couldn’t evade cops forever.

On Thursday, four lawless shoppers admitted to targeting 60 Home Depot stores in California from October 2021 to February 2023.

The criminal operation was spearheaded by siblings Jose Delasancha and Luis Delasancha, who employed specialized tools to bypass security systems on merchandise within the stores, as reported by the California Attorney General’s Office.

After shutting down the tech, the shoplifters would then clear out an entire shelf full of merchandise and fill their carts to the brim.

Then, the brazen thieves would waltz right out of the door without paying for a single item in the basket.

The Delasancha brothers and two other men, Agustin Garfiaz and Everardo Carillo-Avilez, all admitted to taking part in the sick scheme.

Garfiaz and Carillo-Avilez helped the brothers resell the stolen goods online for a profit.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta delivered a strong message following the sentencing, stating, “Our battle against organized crime is taking place both on the ground and within the legal system.”

“If you steal from businesses to line your own pockets, we will hold you accountable.

“We will not tolerate theft that puts our communities and businesses at risk.”

This is just the latest in a string of arrests as retail chains and law enforcement crack down on shoplifters’ creative schemes to steal items.

Walmart customers might believe they can sneak a few unpaid items past self-checkout, but the company has emphasized that violators will be identified and dealt with.

One customer, Matthew Patrick Gay, thought he had officials fooled after he devised a creative “diamond ring” scam to steal $7,000 worth of items.

He would go to the jewelry counter at Walmart stores and ask the attendant to check out the most precious rings.

Then, when the worker wasn’t looking, he would quickly swap the diamond ring with a fake that was in his pocket, officials said.

Gay would then give the fake ring back to the worker and breeze out of the store with the real one in tow.

Officials were able to finally catch him after they reviewed surveillance and watched him clearly make the switch.

BAN WARNING

Shoppers should know that if they brazenly steal from major retail chains, they could be banned for good.

In February, another customer was blocked from every Walmart store in the US after she was caught using an old watch battery barcode to scan expensive products for just $1.

Meanwhile, two women were arrested after swiping more than $100,000 in goods using a slick “package” scam at Target and Walmart stores.

And one man with a hilariously ironic name was caught stealing over $20,000 worth of items with a sneaky trick.

Jose Delasancha, 34, pleaded guilty to four counts of grand theft and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Luis Delasancha, 33, also pleaded guilty to four counts of grand theft and was hit with four years.

Carillo-Avilez pleaded guilty to organized retail theft and will be on felony probation for two years.

Garfiaz pleaded guilty to organized retail theft and receiving stolen property and was also hit with two years of felony probation