4 men charged for targeting Maryland stores in $800K retail theft scheme

BALTIMORE -- Four men were indicted for their involvement in a criminal organization that is allegedly responsible for $800,000 in retail burglaries and thefts across six Maryland jurisdictions, according to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

The following four men are charged with participating in a criminal organization, and multiple instances of theft and burglary.

• Donte Bernard Shaw, 34, of D.C. was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm
• Taquan Anthony Neal, 25, of District Heights
• Antonio William Polite, 35, of Hyattsville
• Samuel Cordell Whitmire, Jr., 29, of Alexandria, Virginia

The indictment alleges that Shaw, Neal, Whitmire and Polite - along with other members of the organization - committed at least 37 retail crimes, according to the OAG.

Investigators became aware of the group in September 2023, the OAG said.

The organization targeted stores across Maryland, including in Baltimore County, Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Montgomery County, Queen Anne's County, and Prince George's County, according to the indictment.

The following retailers were targeted in the scheme:

• Sunglass Hut
• Ulta Beauty
• LensCrafters
• Perfumania
• GameStop
• Dicks's Sporting Goods

According to the OAG, the organization often committed thefts during business hours by overwhelming store employees with a "flash mob" style tactic.

During the thefts, multiple people would enter a store and fill their bags with as many products as they could before fleeing, according to the OAG.

According to the OAG, the targeted stores were open on most occasions, but there were some cases when the organization burglarized retail stores outside of business hours.

The indictment alleges that the organization repeatedly targeted the same retail stores and often stole from them multiple times within a few days.

The organization targeted luxury retail clothing stores and sold the stolen items in person or by posting them to online marketplaces.

"Organized retail crimes are not victimless. Stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from businesses can lead to higher prices for products that Marylanders need, and cost hardworking employees their jobs," said Attorney General Brown.

A Rise in Retail Theft

Retail theft has been on the rise across the U.S., and after studies found that self-checkout enables more theft, many stores have begun rolling back the initiative.

In March, retail giant Target made changes to its checkout process, limiting self-checkout to 10 items and requiring that shoppers with more than 10 items visit a cashier to checkout.

In May, Northeast grocer Giant Food implemented a ban on large bags at some locations to combat "unprecedented levels" of theft. Giant in Baltimore's Waverly neighborhood was one of the locations to implement the ban.

"We need to be able to run our stores safely and profitably, and we take these responsibilities seriously," a spokesperson for Giant said. "The tactics we deploy are only one of the solutions to our problem."