In just three months, $20,000 worth of merchandise was stolen from a Holly Springs Ulta Beauty Store, according to arrest warrants WRAL obtained.
Four people were arrested in connection to the retail theft ring, according to court documents.
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“These organized retail crime groups realize that it's fast money that they can get,” said Andy Ellen, president and general counsel with the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association. “It's much easier, especially in the economy we're in at times, to steal these items and resell them at a lesser price. They know that they're stealing high demand items that they know that they can turn over really quickly.”
Court documents say Shekia McNeill and Renee David wore wigs, glasses and medical masks as disguises steal products from Ulta on April 23, including makeup and skin care. Court documents say McNeill stole more than $3 thousand worth
When officers learned that people may be stealing from Ulta, a Holly Springs officer followed what they believed to be the suspect vehicle, according to search warrants. The detective followed the car, and arrested them after a brief chase.
In Broadcastify Radio traffic you can hear the officer say the suspects were throwing makeup from the car.
They were stealing the products for Kristin Hurley and Darrin Barrett, who officers believe to be the ring leaders, according to search warrants. They say the two of them would send the other suspects lists of beauty products, how much they were willing to pay for each and possible locations to steal from.
“Items recovered from McNeill and David that were stolen from Holly Springs were consistent with products most recently listed from Barrett in a text message,” the search warrant reads.
"They'll do their homework," said Arthur Clarke with Holly Springs Police. "They'll have a driver; they'll know the patterns of shift changes; they'll know the high-end materials...They're going right to the target items. They know how to load, what to load it in. They're well-prepared."
Ulta documented a total of $222,546.33 in thefts connected to McNeill alone, according to the search warrant. She even told officers that she steals from Ulta stores ranging from Florida to North Carolina. Ellen calls these types of organized retail crime group “highly sophisticated.”
“These people are traveling up and down I-95 and across I-40, all over the country, to do these [thefts],” he said.
Ellen said the people involved in these rings typically resell the merchandise at a lower price.
"In order to make up for that, [consumers] all end up picking up the cost of that in the price of the goods that we all buy and buy legitimately, versus the ones that are stolen," he said. "There's not sales tax using on those resales, so we're all losing out as a state on the money that should be collected for those items."
Chris Swecker is now an attorney in the Charlotte area, but he used to be the assistant director for the FBI. He says he's noticed more of these organized retail theft rings since 2020.
"They have their own little hierarchy, their own their 'fences,' people whose roles are well-defined in the organization. It's organized, and that presents a greater danger than one-off criminals," Swecker explained.
Both McNeill and David admitted to stealing the products, according to court documents.
The Ulta Loss Prevention team documented losses of more than $300,000 for both McNeill and David combined, according to the search warrant.
The Ulta Loss Prevention team documented losses of $20,660 that could be traced back to Hurley and Barrett.
Holly Springs Police Department would not comment on specific details of how the investigation played out, but spoke broadly about the issue of organized retail theft rings.