Pasco man charged with organizing store thefts of +$15,000 in jewelry, tools
.jpg "A Pasco man is accused of organized retail theft.")
A Tri-Cities man has been charged with organized retail theft after a series of thefts at Kennewick stores over the past year.
The alleged crime spree began as early as last January when Kennewick police say that Luiz Armando Anguino, 34, and two other men stole more than $1,000 worth of power tools from Lowe’s in what is described as a coordinated effort, said a news release from Kennewick police.
Then, in early May, Anguino allegedly went to a jewelry store at Columbia Center mall and ran off with more than $6,000 worth of jewelry.
About a week later, he returned and allegedly stole a piece of jewelry worth an estimated $8,500 from another jewelry store.
Kennewick police said that security video from all three locations helped identify Anguino as the suspect.
Detectives worked with the Metro Drug Task Force and Pasco police to find Anguino at a home in Pasco and arrested him this week. He also had an active warrant for a separate fraud case.
Anguino was booked into the Benton County Jail on Wednesday on suspicion of two counts of 1st degree theft and one count of organized retail theft. All three charges are felonies.
He has been charged with three counts of forgery stemming from the November 2022 warrant and three counts of failing to comply from March and April 2022 incidents.
Public records show he has a history of convictions for both theft and shoplifting.
Anguino is being held on suspicion of six felonies. It’s unclear if there are other charges he could be facing related to the 2022 failure to comply charges listed, but Kennewick police said other charges could be coming once other investigations are completed.
Anyone with information about these crimes should call the Kennewick police non-emergency number at 509-628-0333 and reference case number 23-035707. Anonymous tips can also be sent to www.kpdtips.com.
