Jason W. Beach, 51, was arrested and charged with multiple thefts from Home Depot stores across several states, according to Missouri court records. The charges include burglary and stealing, and a warrant was issued on Friday with conditions of a $25,000 bond, GPS monitoring, and a prohibition from entering any Home Depot location.
An off-duty officer was alerted to a theft on November 11, during which Beach allegedly stole $300 in tools from a Kansas City, Missouri, Home Depot. A Home Depot asset protection employee identified him as the suspect.
Investigators found that Beach had been arrested at the end of October for another Home Depot theft. He had previously been trespassed from stores in Oklahoma, Texas, California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Iowa, and Missouri.
Court documents revealed a history of convictions: “Beach had been convicted of thefts in Iowa, California, and Texas in 2024, 2021, and 2017.”
Shoplifting incidents in the U.S. surged 93% in 2023 compared to pre-pandemic levels, with retailers experiencing a 90% rise in monetary losses, according to a new study by the National Retail Federation (NRF). The “Impact of Retail Theft & Violence 2024” report underscores the growing severity of organized retail crime and its increasing violence.
The NRF’s study, conducted with the Loss Prevention Research Council, found that shoplifting incidents increased by 26% in 2023 alone. The data revealed an average of 177 shoplifting incidents per day, but some retail sectors reported over 1,000 daily incidents. David Johnston, NRF vice president of asset protection and retail operations, explained that organized crime groups are driving these numbers by reselling stolen goods in bulk.
“This isn’t the shoplifting I was apprehending 30 years ago,” Johnston told FOX Business. “These shoplifters know they have an outlet to sell this merchandise.” Johnston emphasized that stolen goods are often resold through local, regional, or even transnational networks, fueling a cycle of theft.
