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Man charged for alleged $5,000 theft at Cranberry Best Buy

An organized retail theft ring may be behind a series of thefts in the region, which included a November incident where more than $5,000 worth of merchandise was removed from the Best Buy in Cranberry Township, police said.

Larry A. Jackson II, 26, of Pittsburgh, was charged Thursday with two counts of felony theft by Cranberry Township police for his alleged role in the Nov. 21 incident where multiple laptops and other items were taken from the store at 1000 Cranberry Square Dr.

Jackson also was charged by Bethel Park police in Allegheny County Thursday with felonies theft and criminal conspiracy, as well as several traffic citations, for a similar incident.

Emmitt Bell-Young, Dion Crawford Jr. and Jordan Shine are also facing charges by Bethel Park police for the alleged theft in Allegheny County.

Police said around 7:04 p.m. on Nov. 21, Jackson and three unidentified males pulled into the parking lot of the Cranberry Township Best Buy in a Kia Sorento SUV. Jackson later was identified as the driver.

Police said upon entering the store, one of the males placed eight laptops, a printer and a blu-ray movie disc player into a shopping cart. Police said Jackson added a tablet to that cart, making the amount of merchandise accumulated equal to $5,632 in total value.

Jackson and a male pushing the cart exited the store without paying for the merchandise at 7:15 p.m., according to charging documents.

Police said Jackson started the group’s vehicle and waited for the male pushing the cart. Then, several of the laptops fell off the cart and onto the pavement. Jackson moved the vehicle further away in the lot two times as the male reloaded the laptops.

The male pushing the cart was then confronted by a Best Buy employee, and police said Jackson drove away from the store, fleeing the scene.

According to the affidavit, the male pushing the cart surrendered the items to the Best Buy employee.

As of Friday evening, a preliminary hearing for Jackson, related to the alleged Cranberry Township incident, has not been scheduled. His preliminary hearing related to the alleged Allegheny County incident is set for 1 p.m. on Dec. 15 in front of magisterial district judge Ronald Arnoni.

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