Free Republic

Lego’s fanbase, which famously cuts across kids, teenagers and grownup collectors, is seeing some unsavory characters break into the mix, and for all the wrong reasons. Lego products, especially the pricier sets that range from over $100 to $1,000 or more, are being targeted for theft both by individual shoplifters and larger organized retail crime rings who make a beeline for sets sitting on store shelves because they can fetch a good profit at resale both in legal and illegal channels. Miguel Zuniga, who operates a Bricks & Minifigs Lego resale franchise store in Lumita, Los Angeles County, is still...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A man was shot in the arm Saturday night while trying to steal two cases of beer from a gas station convenience store. Metro police said officers with the Hermitage Precinct responded to reports of a shooting at a Shell gas station located in the 1500 block of Lebanon Pike at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, June 22. When officers arrived, they found a 26-year-old man – who had been shot in the forearm – walking down the street. The officers tried to talk to him, but he tried to get away. He was eventually stopped and...

On a conference call with industry analysts on Thursday, Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth announced the company’s intention to eliminate a significant portion of its U.S. stores over the next three years. While describing a quarter of the 8,500 stores as “underperforming,” Wentworth announced that the company would close a “significant portion” of these locations. However, according to Wentworth, the precise number of closures is still undecided. Wentworth also stated that Walgreens will implement certain modifications at the remaining underperforming locations in an effort to bring them back to life. If that doesn’t work, then “we will continue to consider closure...

Almost 200 people have been charged in a nationwide operation probing false health care claims involving approximately $2.75 billion in losses, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday. Under its 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action, the DOJ filed charges against 193 defendants, including 76 doctors, nurse practitioners and other licensed medical professionals in 32 different federal districts across the country. The DOJ said in a nationwide law enforcement action, the government seized “over $231 million in cash, luxury vehicles, gold, and other assets.” “It does not matter if you are a trafficker in a drug cartel or a...

As if Joe Biden’s America weren’t a bad enough environment for small business owners, it’s fixing to get even worse—not only do they have to consider a looming recession, inflation driving up overhead, smash and grabs (oftentimes with little to no recourse), a consumer with less to spend, sky-high insurance rates, and increasing taxation, now they get to wonder if copper thieves will strip their A/C units and put their small, family-owned enterprise out of business during their busiest month of the year. Because, that’s exactly what happened to the owners of a local ice cream shop in Louisville, Kentucky....

CHICAGO — A group of migrants attacked, robbed, and carjacked another migrant outside the city’s shelter at 1358 North Elston, across from the Salt Shed, on Monday evening. Police said the victim refused to pursue felony charges, but two men were charged with misdemeanors. The 37-year-old victim was outside around 10 p.m. when a group of up to ten people, all believed to be associated with the migrant shelter, approached and began to physically attack him, according to preliminary information. Police said the offenders threatened the man and a 33-year-old man who was with him before leaving the scene. Some...

CTV News Surveillance videos shows a brazen porch pirate stealing a package right in front of a FedEx delivery driver. Heather Butts reports.

The United Nations chief says that “total lawlessness” and “chaos” in Gaza is preventing the distribution of humanitarian aid within the enclave, which is why an immediate ceasefire is needed.

A USC student whom police accused of fatally stabbing a man who had broken into a car on Greek Row will not be charged in the killing, prosecutors announced Thursday. Ivan Gallegos, 19, was being held on bail of $2 million after Los Angeles police say he and two others confronted Xavier Cerf, 27, as he was breaking into a car, and Gallegos pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed him. "After careful consideration and a thorough review of all available evidence, we have decided not to pursue charges against ... Gallegos. We believe that Mr. Gallegos’s actions were driven...

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A local hotel is offering up a reward after a bag with more than $1,200 in cash was stolen. The District Hotel was in the process of closing. The outdoor bartender was counting the money, put it in a bag and then set it down. “We were having a party here at the pool, and by closing, someone decided that they were going to go back and rob our outside bar here at the pool,” said Tim Selby, Co-Owner of District Hotel. They are in shock and disbelief that $1,200 was stolen from right under their...

Background In California, police don’t arrest criminals because prosecutors will just turn them loose. People and businesses are tired of the crime. The result is a campaign to roll back Soros-backed proposition 47 that made theft of less than $950 in goods a misdemeanor. Stores are at the mercy of shoplifters and many merchants have decided to close up shop. Downtown San Francisco looks like a ghost town. California Voter Revolt The proposition 47 reversal has gathered enough signatures that it will be on the ballot. However, the Progressive nut cases running the state propose an alternate measure with a...

CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced an executive order Monday to establish a reparations task force and agenda aimed at addressing historical injustices against the African American community. The task force will develop a definition and framework for reparations, identifying areas for restorative action such as housing, education, jobs, and criminal justice. It is also responsible for conducting a comprehensive study to catalog policies that have harmed African Americans in Chicago, including controversial real estate practices like redlining and restrictive covenants. Johnson made the announcement during a Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony at Daley Plaza. "Reparations will be an investment in...

California's Democratic leadership, backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, wants to keep the tough-on-crime measure off the November ballot. They worry the ballot measure's proposal would disproportionately criminalize low-income people and those with substance use issues rather than target ringleaders who hire large groups of people to steal goods for them to resell online. If voters approve the tough-on-crime ballot initiative, Democratic leaders plan to void most measures in their own legislative package, citing potential conflicts. Lawmakers were short on details about how the two paths conflict earlier this week. Later, they said they fear if both efforts succeed, law enforcement...

New York has a shoplifting epidemic, and its changing the city in more ways than one, and those changes might be permanent...

Across the U.S., thieves have been targeting electric-vehicle charging stations, intent on stealing the cables, which contain copper wiring DETROIT -- Just before 2 a.m. on a chilly April night in Seattle, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup stopped at an electric vehicle charging station on the edge of a shopping center parking lot. Two men, one with a light strapped to his head, got out. A security camera recorded them pulling out bolt cutters. One man snipped several charging cables; the other loaded them into the truck. In under 2½ minutes, they were gone. The scene that night has become part...

Chicago's Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson spent more than $30,000 of campaign funds on hair and makeup since launching his bid for office last year, according to a new report. Johnson, who defeated incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2023, reportedly used funds donated to his Friends of Brandon Johnson campaign fund by political supporters to cover the cost of his makeup and hair appointments, the Chicago Sun Times reported. The outlet cited election board records, which revealed that the progressive mayor spent more than $30,000 on personal grooming in the past year. Almost all the money paid makeup artist and self-described...

This sticky-figured porch pirate could barely wait until the package was delivered. The brazen masked Columbus, Ohio, crook snatched the goods just seconds after it was plopped down on the porch — the stunned FedEx driver looking on in disbelief.

A former Atlanta city attorney who was sentenced to seven years in prison over a massive $15 million pandemic loan fraud donated to Trump prosecutor Fani Willis’s campaign after applying for the government handouts, records show. Shelitha Robertson, 62, used some of her ill-gotten windfall for lavish purchases — including a massive 10-carat diamond ring and a Rolls Royce, according to federal prosecutors. But, she also donated $1,000 to Willis’s Democratic primary election campaign around the time she got the massive payouts from the Paycheck Protection Program, Georgia campaign filings show. **SNIP** A judge ruled that the relationship did not...

The former assistant city attorney of Atlanta, who was also a life advice podcaster has been jailed for seven years after fraudulently obtaining approximately $15 million in COVID relief loans. Shelitha Robertson, 62, used the illegally gained funds to splash out on luxuries such as a 10 carat diamond ring, a Rolls Royce and a motorbike. The former police officer had obtained the money under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a federal stimulus program that was set up during the pandemic.

A Spirit Airlines passenger managed to track down her stolen luggage after it vanished when she arrived at a Florida airport — using one of the stolen items to aid in her desperate search. Paola Garcia had been waiting for her small pink hardshell luggage, containing several Apple products like her personal MacBook and two Apple Watches, at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport’s carousel after returning home to the Sunshine State, Local 10 reported. The exact timing of the incident remains unclear, but Garcia’s desperation to find her stolen property led her to the apparent culprit’s house even before local...