Pandemic diapers? Tri-Cities man tries to cash in on Facebook, police say

As Tri-Citians were stocking up last spring on toilet paper, hand sanitizer and cleaning products, one man tried to cash in on the coronavirus pandemic by trying to sell diapers through a Facebook account.

The problem, according to police and prosecutors, is that Jonathon R. Hoffman was stealing the goods from local stores to meet the online demand.

Hoffman, 44, allegedly walked out of at least four stores without paying for the diapers, with a total value of $457.

When he was caught in May — just 10 days after he was forced to return diapers to a Kennewick store — Hoffman said he made a mistake this time in taking items from a West Richland store, according to court documents.

The Richland man is charged in Benton County Superior Court with third-degree retail theft with special circumstances, a felony. He has been sent a summons to appear in court Nov. 12

He’s accused of taking them between March 19 and May 21.

Kennewick police responded to the Rite Aid on Steptoe Street on May 11 to review security video showing a man leave the store without paying for three packages of diapers worth $56.

After identifying Hoffman in the video, police soon discovered that he was connected to a fictitiously named Facebook account featuring diapers for resale, documents said.

Hoffman returned to the store the following day to meet with officers, who helped him return the diapers and a stolen shopping basket, court documents said.

But while Hoffman was doing that, Richland police were taking a separate report of a theft from the Albertsons just down the road on Gage Boulevard.

Employees said on the same day as the Rite Aid theft a man came into the store, placed groceries into a cart and left without paying. Video surveillance, which also identified Hoffman, showed he took seven packages of diapers valued at $94, documents said.

Two months earlier on March 19, Hoffman allegedly walked away from a Safeway store with two cases of diapers worth $86.

West Richland police were called May 21 about two men driving away from the Yoke’s Fresh Market on Bombing Range Road. The men reportedly did not pay for baby diapers.

Police stopped the vehicle and Hoffman was in the passenger seat.

He admitted all of the items in the vehicle were stolen from Yoke’s, and stated “he had made a mistake in taking the items,” court documents said.

The diapers, worth $221 were turned over to officers and returned to Yoke’s, documents said.

This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 10:09 AM.