Four charged in Best Buy thefts across metro, including EP store

Four people from California were charged in Dakota County District Court for thefts totaling about $13,600 from Best Buy stores in Apple Valley, Eagan, and Eden Prairie.

Those charged include Yessenia Polanco, 42, Jacquiline Pavon, 38, Layorny Feliz Flores, 39, all from Torrance, and Davis Antonio Rugama, 33, of Inglewood. Each of them faces a felony count of theft and could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted.

Following a series of thefts at metro-area Best Buy stores, the Eagan Police Department began investigating an organized group of retail thieves.

On three occasions, the suspects were seen working together inside the stores to shoplift items, according to the criminal complaint. During these thefts, the suspects would select, conceal and steal merchandise. At times, the suspects would use tools to remove anti-theft security devices.

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The three Best Buy thefts in the metro area occurred on June 9. Merchandise valued at $4,087.68 was stolen from the Apple Valley store at about 2 p.m., $5,502.66 from the Eagan location at about 3:20 p.m., and $4,008 from the Eden Prairie store at about 4:05 p.m. Polanco was not involved in the Eden Prairie theft, the complaint stated.

On July 20, an investigator learned that the four suspects were arrested during a theft at a Best Buy store in Moore, Oklahoma. The investigator then compared photographs of the arrested suspects with those involved in the Minnesota thefts and found them identical.

Polanco, Pavon, Rugama, and Flores are known to collaborate on thefts from Best Buy stores in multiple states, the complaint stated.

A manager specializing in organized crime at Best Buy estimated the group has committed at least 23 thefts, totaling around $56,000.