Rockford Police Raid On Six Businesses Could Have Big Impact

(Rockford, Illinois) When Rockford Police raided six Rockford area businesses Thursday and arrested 11 people for conspiracy to commit theft, they knew it was a wide ranging operation. But many may be surprised just how far the criminal activity went. Winnebago County State`s Attorney Paul Logli says the criminal operation reached far beyond the Stateline`s borders and adds, "The thefts were just not occurring in Rockford and Winnebago County. They were occurring in several nearby counties into Wisconsin and into cities as far away as the Peoria area." Logli says the criminal operation included stealing items like baby formula, liquor, beauty aids, and over the counter medicines, and then reselling them at the targeted businesses. Logli adds the investigation began six months ago and adds, "A person we were prosecuting for retail theft was facing some vary serious charges. He decided to cooperate and that`s when we first started to get information." Paul Logli also added he`s never seen anything like this criminal operation before in Winnebago County and says, "No, I`ve never seen a situation where a retail outlet was offering an opportunity to get rid of what they are stealing from other retail establishments." Logli also says this criminal operation may have been going on for as long as six to 7 years before police got wind of it.