"TJ Maxx Trio" retail theft suspects arrested in San Jose
Authorities in the South Bay this week announced the recent San Jose arrest of three retail theft suspects who earned the moniker "the TJ Maxx Trio" from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department.
The sheriff's department posted about the arrests on social media Thursday, saying that the "trio of repeat offenders was caught in the act hiding merchandise" at the Hillsdale Ave. TJ Maxx location in San Jose.
The post noted that detectives followed the suspects to their vehicle and found multiple trash bags "filled with stolen clothing" from both TJ Maxx and Marshalls.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department later provided additional information on the arrests, saying the "blitz operation" happened on Feb. 21. Detectives determined the trio had allegedly stolen more than $900 of merchandise that was hidden under their clothing. The trash bags in their van had close to $6,000 worth of stolen clothing.
Authorities identified the suspects as 24-year-old Francesca Zarafu, 23-year-old Florin Bambaloi, and 23-year-old Patricia Dumitru, all residents of Vallejo. The sheriff's department said the suspects had visited multiple other Bay Area TJ Maxx stores earlier in the day, but did not know the exact locations.
The suspects were booked into Main Jail and all face charges of organized retail theft, grand theft, receiving stolen property, and conspiracy. Suspect Zarafu additionally had an outstanding criminal warrant for retail theft.
The department said more blitz operations by their Retail Theft Task Force are planned across Santa Clara County at a variety of retailers.
