Two men accused of stealing calculators across seven stores, found with cooler carrying $5,000 worth of calculators
WOODBURY, Minn. — When police stopped two men leaving a Woodbury Target last month, they likely didn't know they were about to come across something much bigger.
Inside a cooler, two men were carrying $5,000 worth of stolen calculators.
Something shoppers say doesn't compute.
"I think it's ridiculous, I can't believe it. I can't believe it," said Mary Ocel from Apple Valley.
Another pair of Target shoppers told WCCO, "I think that's different. I've never heard of anyone stealing calculators. That's probably a first time for me hearing that."
And as fate would have it, it turns out the investigation would multiply.
The two men are accused of stealing graphing calculators from stores in Eagan, Apple Valley, West Saint Paul and more, robbing a total of seven stores.
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Some of the stolen calculators add up to nearly $20,000.
"That's just kind of like, surprising to me," said Burnsville resident Kamila Rustamova. "Out of all things, calculators would not be on the list of things people would steal."
A police report says police believe the two men are from Texas and part of a theft ring responsible for $25 million in stolen calculators across the country.
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"There's a gameplan here, said Ocel. "They're figuring out they can sell them on the internet. To people that will go and get them because they can get them a little bit cheaper."
Their decision could end up equaling ten years behind bars.
"You know how they lock up stuff in certain stores, are they going to have to lock up calculators now? People saying 'hey, I want to buy this calculator- can you unlock it?," said Rustamova. "If it's a calculator, it's going to be another thing. It's one after the other."