Organized retail crime has found its way to the streets of Sedona. A theft of $5,000 worth of gold and silver from Garland’s Navajo Rugs, a Sedona institution since 1976 that specializes in American Indian jewelry and rugs, has left the business community on high alert.

“We’ve had a variety of thefts and scams over the years. However, I’ve never seen anything like this where a child was involved,” Michael Garland, owner of the family business, stated.

The theft occurred on Nov. 23, when a family composed of a man, a woman and a young boy entered the store.

The father and child distracted the sales staff while the mother broke into a jewelry display case and stole a $3,600 gold bracelet and a $1,500 silver bracelet.

“The woman kept pacing back and forth in front of our cases with gold in them, but as soon as a staff member looked her way, she would immediately turn around and walk away, only to drift back as soon as she could,” Garland said. “Eventually, she had her husband distract the staff while she rushed to a case, forced it open, and grabbed what she could.”

The family’s behavior was described as “suspicious,” and the child appeared to be stressed and eager to leave.

The tactics used by this family were typical of those used by an ORC group.

ORC groups are officially defined by Homeland Security Investigations as “the association of two or more persons engaged in illegally obtaining items of value from retail establishments, through theft or fraud, as part of a criminal enterprise.”

According to a report put out by the Retail Industry Leaders Association, ORC groups stole over $70 billion from retailers in 2019. While many may believe that retail theft is a victimless crime, as products for sale are often insured, this kind of crime accounts for the loss of approximately $15 billion in tax revenue, not including sales taxes.

This loss of revenue is then passed on to U.S. families at the cost of approximately $500 per family per year, according to Homeland Security.

ORC groups often operate under organized theft groups, as defined by federal authorities. These groups are generally associated with international criminal organizations.

“OTGs can be involved in a myriad of other crimes including, but not limited to, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering and even terrorism,” HSI stated.

Money collected from ORC groups will go directly to funding these organizations and furthering their criminal enterprises.

ORC groups have become more “brazen” lately, according to HSI associate director Steve Francis. Groups have been using more violent means to steal, most notably pepper-spraying employees who attempt to stop thefts in progress.

While employees at Garland’s were unharmed, other retailers are sometimes not so fortunate.

Michael Garland stated that Sedona police did “great” in their response and that they have always been professional. Sedona police are still seeking information about the suspects and anyone with information is advised to contact them at their non-emergency number.

Garland said he was concerned with getting the information about the theft out to other business owners to help prevent this from happening to them.

“It starts with educating your staff that there are professional thieves in Sedona. It’s really important to look for nervous body language and to trust your gut if you have a bad feeling about someone. Our staff said they felt something was off about these people, but they wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. No one wants to falsely accuse someone, but don’t let kindness override your instincts. As Sedona continues to grow and grow, these types of situations will continue to increase in frequency. It’s important as a community that we share these incidents with each other on Nextdoor, Facebook or wherever.”

If you have information about the crime or the suspects, call the Sedona police department at (928) 282-3100.