East Bremerton man charged for Target thefts first prosecution by new retail crime unit
A 33-year-old East Bremerton man connected to repeated thefts at Target stores in the region is the first person to be prosecuted by a new organized retail crime unit in the state Attorney General's Office, according to a news release from the office.
Shawn Dale Nanez was charged Nov. 16 with a count of first-degree organized retail theft in King County Superior Court, and earlier this month, the state took over prosecution of another case against Nanez, also on one count of first-degree organized retail theft, in Kitsap County Superior Court, in a matter that was originally filed in June 2022. Nanez is currently listed as in custody in the Kitsap County Jail.
In a news release, the Attorney General's Office said that the charges stemmed from 11 thefts with more than $50,000 in merchandise taken from Target stores in King and Kitsap counties during a two-month period in 2022.
"Video footage showed Nanez using a tool to break into security cases that contained electronic items like speakers and headphones," the news release said. "He then took the items out and loaded them into a shopping cart. He walked out of the stores without paying for any of the items. After his arrest on June 3, 2022, Nanez told investigators he sold the merchandise to a third party for cash."
According to a report written by a Kitsap County sheriff's deputy in August 2022 for the Kitsap County case, a Target investigator connected Nanez and a woman to several thefts at Target stores across Western Washington, including at the Target store in Silverdale, and about $167,000 worth of items, with another $20,000 under investigation.
Funding for the newly established 10-person unit in the Attorney General's Office became available July 1, and the office is in the process of hiring investigators, prosecutors, paralegals and a data analyst.
“Our new unit is hitting the ground running and pursuing cases as we hire our team,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement. “This is the first of what we hope will be many cases bringing accountability to this significant and growing problem.”
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: East Bremerton man first to be prosecuted by new retail crime unit
