ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Two St. Petersburg men are facing felony charges following a massive retail theft investigation that spanned multiple Florida counties and racked up over $370,000 in losses.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) announced the arrests of Raydel Amado Gines Prieto, 52, and Erisniel Melgarejo Rodriguez, 36, who are each charged with two counts of organized retail theft.
The FDLE’s Organized Retail Crime Squad launched its probe in December 2023. The investigation began after asset protection teams from a major home improvement retailer flagged a pattern of suspicious activity involving two men hitting locations across West Florida.
Investigators say the duo used a variety of tactics to bypass security. Methods included under-scanning items at self-checkout kiosks, processing fraudulent returns for cash or credit, and simply walking out of the front doors with entire shopping carts full of unpaid goods.
By the time agents caught up with them, the pair had been linked to more than 150 separate theft incidents dating back to August 2023.
Melgarejo Rodriguez was taken into custody on March 2 by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and booked into the local jail. Gines Prieto was already in custody on unrelated charges at the time the FDLE warrants were served.
The case is now in the hands of the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.
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