DETECTIVES RECOVER THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF STOLEN GOODWILL DONATIONS
Posted: November 17th, 2011 10:20 PM
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Summary of Event
Today Sheriff's detectives arrested a Goodwill employee for stealing thousands of dollars worth of donations from the charity. Detectives have been working on this case since they were alerted to the thefts by Goodwill Industries in July.
Full Details
On Thursday, November 17, 2011, Sheriff's detectives arrested their primary suspect in a case where thousands of dollars worth of donations were being stolen from Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette (Goodwill).
In July of this year Goodwill contacted the Sheriff's Office to report that they suspected at least one employee who was stealing from them. They received a tip from a concerned citizen who had information regarding the thefts. With that information Goodwill hired a private investigator who developed additional information about the thefts. At that time Goodwill officials turned over their investigation to the Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's detectives from the Property Crimes Unit began investigating the thefts. They started with their primary suspect, 34-year-old Jason Baca of Cornelius, a driver for Goodwill. Mr. Baca was responsible for picking up deliveries from various Goodwill drop-off sites around the Metro area. He would sort through the donations and steal what he wanted. Most of the stolen donations were taken to his house where he either used the items for himself or sold them.
While Mr. Baca stole thousands of donations from his pick up routes, he seemed to have an affinity for DVD's, CD's, Video Games, and other electronics including large flat-screen TV's.
When Mr. Baca was arrested, he admitted to many of the thefts and consented to allowing detectives in his Cornelius house to recover a large amount of stolen property. Detectives and members of the Sheriff's Forensic Sciences Unit recovered thousands of DVD's, CD's, and video games from the house, along with hundreds of shoes. They also found approximately ten big screen TV's. There was so much property that Goodwill donated the use of a tractor-trailer rig for detectives to move the evidence to a secure holding area.
Sheriff's detectives identified several additional suspects during the investigation and are continuing to gather evidence in the case. Of all the suspects, at least three are current or former employees of Goodwill Industries. Additional arrests are expected.
Mr. Baca was lodged in the Washington County Jail on charges of Aggravated Theft I.
Detectives working on this case said that the cooperation with Goodwill Industries was a crucial part of the investigation and they were very impressed with the professionalism demonstrated by the administrative personnel they interacted with at the charity.
www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff
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