By Steve Byerly
Published: Jun. 17, 2024 at 9:50 AM EDT|Updated: Jun. 17, 2024 at 9:57 AM EDT
EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Columbia County deputies say they busted a baby formula shoplifting ring that hit several stores and stole thousands of dollars worth of the product.
It’s a crime that’s gaining steam with the high price and sometimes scarcity of baby formula. In Indiana, three people were caught recently with more than $20,000 in stolen baby formula. And in Tennessee, shoplifters stole 450 cans in one day in a similar scheme.
Three people were arrested in the local case.
Columbia County deputies got involved Thursday morning when they were called to the Walmart Neighborhood Market at 300 S. Belair Road about a shoplifting case.
A cashier had seen a couple enter the store and then leave without buying anything. The loss-prevention manager reviewed surveillance video, which showed the couple grabbing diapers and 12 cans of formula before moving out of view. Then they left, with the woman carrying a full purse.
They didn’t take the diapers, but the formula was valued at $587.76, according to deputies.
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They left in a GMC Yukon with a temporary tag.
Dispatchers followed the vehicle on traffic cameras as it went to a Kroger at 4115 Columbia Road, which the couple visited for five minutes.
Video footage showed them doing the same thing at Kroger, right down to the diapers, the 12 cans of formula and the full purse, deputies said. The stolen formula at Kroger was valued at $499.08.
A couple of hours later, the Yukon was found on a traffic camera at Belair and Wrightsboro roads, so deputies went to the nearby Kroger Marketplace on Harper Franklin Road in Augusta. They found the Yukon in the parking lot there and learned they were suspected of shoplifting from that store, too.
Deputies said they performed a traffic stop on the vehicle and said they found “large quantities” of baby formula in it.
Three people were taken into custody:
- The driver, Jose Salvador, 20.
- Passenger Dulce Tovar‑Sanchez, 22.
- Passenger Angel Presa‑Gonzales, 21.
Deputies said they soon learned of more thefts at several other stores on that same morning – all corroborated by surveillance video showing Tovar‑Sanchez and Presa‑Gonzales. The stores included:
- Publix at 4247 Washington Road, where $496.55 worth of formula was stolen.
- Publix at 403 Furys Ferry Road, where $352.44 in formula was stolen.
- Walmart at 260 Bobby Jones Expressway, where $1,124.56 in formula was stolen.
- Walmart at 4469 Washington Road, where $563.76 in formula was stolen.
- Walmart at 3851 Evans to Locks Road, where $524.16 in formula was stolen.
There were 23 more cans of formula in the vehicle apparently stolen from other places that hadn’t yet reported thefts, deputies said, so they kept it as evidence.
None of the suspects spoke English, so a translator was used, and all three waived their right to remain silent, according to deputies.
All three claimed to have an address in Texas, although they couldn’t provide it, and said they were from the same town in Mexico, according to deputies.
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“Dulce was asked why she was stealing formula,” a deputy wrote in a report. “She stated she did not have a job and it was very expensive and she doesn`t have a job. She would not directly say what she was doing with the formula, she did indicate she had three cousins in Texas. Implying they needed the formula. She was asked about Jose and Angel. She said they were friends, and they were helping her steal the formula for fun.”
Next, Presa-Gonzales was interviewed. He stated they were taking the formula back to Mexico because there were people in need of formula in Mexico and it was expensive, a deputy wrote.
When interviewed, Salvador said he had a 1-year-old child and a pregnant girlfriend, according to a deputy.
“He stated it was for his children,’ a deputy wrote. “He said his girlfriend was sick in the hospital and he was here with Angel and Dulce on vacation. He admitted to stealing the formula because there is a tornado in Texas and there are no jobs to get him the money to pay for the money. However, Jose had a large amount of cash in his possession. He claimed he got from his job as a roofer.”
All three were booked into Columbia County jail on multiple counts of misdemeanor and felony shoplifting, according to jail records.
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