BALDWIN PARK – Multiple suspects linked to a retail theft operation that involved returning altered merchandise to a home improvement chain have been arrested after search warrants were served in Baldwin Park and various other locations in the state, the California Highway Patrol announced Thursday.

An investigation was launched in September by the CHP Valley Division’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force in Sacramento after getting a referral from The Home Depot “regarding a subject involved in a sophisticated fraud and theft scheme,” according to the CHP.

“The suspect allegedly damaged merchandise, removed internal components and returned the altered products in exchange for new items,” according to a CHP statement.

The unnamed individual has been linked to “hundreds of incidents at ret

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