Three employees arrested for $18,000 OPE theft

Police detective in Crossville, Tenn., have arrested three Lowe’s employees and charged them with conspiring to steal $18,000 in outdoor power equipment, according to a report in the Crossville Chronicle.

Authorities claim that Jordan Hymers and James Young, both 21 years old, schemed to find unidentified individuals to load up power equipment into a shopping cart and then take the cart through Hymers' checkout in the lawn and garden center. The items were not paid for but were deactivated so they could pass through a security system.

In a statement to police, Hymers told investigators this took place about 20 times for about $1,000 worth of items each time. The alleged crimes took place over a five-week period prior to April 19, when a third individual, 26-year-old Michael Carroll, allegedly put $1,017.38 worth of outdoor power equipment in a shopping cart and passed through Hymers' checkout, stopping to only pay for three soft drinks.

Carroll then met Young in the store’s parking lot and loaded the merchandise into a white van, according to police. The van was stopped after it exited the lot, and officers recovered a chainsaw, weed trimmer and hedge trimmer that had been stolen from Lowe’s, police said.

Hymers and Young were charged with theft of more than $10,000 and Carroll with theft of more than $1,000, the newspaper reported.