AG Sunday touts his office’s efforts in combating retail theft, organized crime at Cranberry appearance
CRANBERRY TWP — Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday made an appearance at Walmart on Tuesday, Sept. 1 to celebrate the second anniversary of his office’s dedicated Organized Retail Crime Section, which was created in July 2024 specifically to investigate and combat large-scale retail theft.
“Organized retail crime is not some victimless crime,” Sunday said. “It victimizes not only the targeted business, but also their employees and customers who can be traumatized by that experience. We are all victimized by the higher prices that result in these brazen criminal activities at a time when affordability is on everyone's mind. Our efforts to combat organized retail crime is one of law enforcement's ways of making life more affordable.”
During his appearance, Sunday was joined by representatives the Cranberry Township, Mt. Lebanon, McCandless, Ross Township and Monroeville police departments and representatives of Walmart, Giant Eagle and American Eagle Outfitters.
Sunday touted advancements made by the retail crime unit since its inception. According to Sunday, the unit has made more than 100 arrests, served more than 200 search warrants and recovered millions in stolen property and counterfeit merchandise. In addition, the retail crime unit is currently carrying out investigations in 50 out of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties as of Sept. 1.
“Those numbers represent much more than statistics,” Sunday said. “They represent businesses that have been protected, employees and customers that have been kept safer and criminal organizations that have been held accountable.”
According to Sunday, retail theft is not limited to single shoplifters, but can also be carried out by multistate — or even multinational — crime networks.
“This criminal activity is rarely just an isolated event,” Sunday said. “They are often part of larger criminal enterprises that then use those proceeds to further fund their other criminal enterprises. And that can include human trafficking, drug trafficking and other criminal activities that impact community safety. ... Increasingly we’re seeing connections to transnational criminal organizations as well, including groups operating out of China and South America.”
One of the schemes uncovered by the retail crime unit occurred during the NFL draft this April in Pittsburgh. According to Sunday, investigators were charged with sweeping hundreds of point-of-sale terminals, gas pumps and ATMs in the lead-up to the event. In the process, they uncovered nine credit card “skimming” devices.
“That activity is estimated to have prevented over $9 million in losses to consumers,” Sunday said. “Our goal, any time we can do it, is to prevent crime from happening before it does, because it’s much easier to keep it from happening than to have to investigate these cases and prosecute people after the fact.”
Other schemes uncovered by the retail crime unit include a 2025 scheme to use stolen Lowe’s customer accounts to make nearly $50,000 worth of online purchases.
“Pennsylvanians have the absolute right to expect that they can go to a retail location and they can be safe,” Sunday said. “Our organized retail crime unit is here to dismantle these criminal organizations, protect employees and the customers they serve. We want to also protect customers from the higher prices that organized retail crime can bring.”
