3 charged after police recover 146 cases of Red Bull in Paramus
Police said nearly $8,000 worth of merchandise was recovered during an investigation at BJ’s Wholesale Club.
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Three New York City men are facing charges after police recovered 146 cases of Red Bull and nearly $8,000 worth of merchandise during an investigation at a Paramus BJ’s Wholesale Club.
Paramus police responded Tuesday to the store on Route 17 after receiving a report of suspicious people in a U-Haul van who were believed to be creating fraudulent credit cards.
Authorities say that officers found Tavonte McClary, 26, in the van and later saw Shaheim Scarborough, 22, walking toward it with a shopping cart filled with cases of Red Bull.
Police said both men provided false identifying information. Officers also found debit cards in various names and blank EBT cards.
Investigators found more than 100 cases of Red Bull in the van and reviewed store surveillance video that police said showed the drinks being purchased fraudulently. The video also showed two additional people allegedly involved.
Officers later arrested Nicholas Whitaker, 27, who police said was seen on surveillance video pushing a cart containing 15 cases of Red Bull and three other items before abandoning it in the parking lot. A fourth person was not found.
Police said they recovered 154 items valued at $7,928.05, including 146 cases of Red Bull. Officers also recovered 17 blank EBT cards, four stolen or fraudulent debit cards, two IDs in different names and a credit card magnetic-stripe re-encoding device.
McClary, Scarborough and Whitaker face multiple charges, including organized retail theft, possession of stolen property, identity theft, trafficking in personal identification and use of a re-encoder device. Scarborough and Whitaker also face fraudulent use of a credit card charges, while McClary and Scarborough are charged with hindering apprehension.
