Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office targets retail theft with three-day sting. Fifteen were arrested.

A three-day operation targeting retail theft in Sarasota County has resulted in 15 arrests and 31 criminal charges filed, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.

The operation was focused on retail outlets in Sarasota and along South Tamiami Trail in Venice.

“These retail operations are part of our intelligence-led policing model,” said Sheriff Tom Knight in a press release. “Based on crime analysis, we can look at hotspots and deploy resources during these maintenance-type initiatives. Our goal was to not only assist local businesses but also to send a message to criminals that retail crime will not be tolerated in this community.”

Arrests included a Venice woman who stole a credit card from an acquaintance and used it to make purchases hours later and a Sarasota man with 79 prior felony charges and 27 prior felony convictions.

Those arrested had a combined 371 prior charges and 142 prior convictions. The charges were as follows:

• Denise Kuegler of Bradenton was issued a summons for Petit Theft.
  
  
• Richard Callahan of Bradenton was charged with Possession of Narcotic Equipment.
  
  
• Stephen King of Port Charlotte charged with Possession of a controlled Substance without a Prescription.
  
  
• Dominick Ciari of Bradenton was charged with Possession of Methamphetamine.
• Andrew Eubanks of Sarasota was charged with Child Abuse, Fleeing to Elude, Driving While License Suspended Third or Subsequent Offense, Possession of Narcotic Equipment, and Violation of Probation.
• Brittany Dietzen of Sarasota was charged with Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Marijuana, and Contempt of Court.
• Jesse Fleming of Sarasota was charged with Petit Theft: Third or Subsequent Offense and Resisting an Officer without Violence.
• Brittany Ellis of Sarasota was charged with Petit Theft.
• Jason Fretz of Sarasota was charged with Petit Theft.
• Anthony Aurelien of Sarasota was charged with Driving While License Suspended Third or Subsequent Offense, Possession of Marijuana, and Violation of Probation.
• Chad Wickersham of Myakka City was charged with Petit Theft: Third or Subsequent Offense, Dealing in Stolen Property, and two warrants for Fraud out of Sarasota County and Petit Theft out of Manatee County. Wickersham was also recently featured on the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office featured fugitives list.

• Linda Busch of Englewood was charged with Petit Theft.
• Suzanne Kehoe of Nokomis was charged with Petit Theft: Third or Subsequent Offense and Resisting a Retail Merchant.
• Grace Zelazney of Venice was charged with four counts of Fraudulent Use of Personal Identification, Theft of a Credit Card, and Grand Theft Under 300 Dollars.
• Sherry Allaire of Nokomis was issued a summons for Petit Theft.
  
  

The operation was part of an ongoing private-public partnership between the sheriff’s office and local retailers to help prevent theft. Since 2013, retail theft operations have resulted in more than 200 arrests, according to the sheriff’s office.

This story was originally published November 20, 2018 at 7:00 PM.