Undercover officers, along with security from Lowe's and Sears went into the five shops Thursday to make one last purchase. After the sales, they served search warrants.
NYC3 employee, 28-year-old Wendell Wilson, was in the parking lot when police served the first warrant. He warned the other shops, and was arrested for obstructing justice.
At NYC3, police located numerous power tools with serial numbers removed, some GPS units, gas trimmers and jewelry. The owner, 33-year-old Mohammed Mahmoud made the final purchase and was arrested. He is charged with two counts of receiving stolen property, and one count of violating swap shop licensing requirements.
Twenty-nine-year-old Khaled Algzawi was arrested at NYC3 on the same charges.
At AllPro, police found eight televisions, four video game systems, four mp3 players, a TV/DVD unit, a Blu-Ray player, some GPS units and other electronic devices. The store owner, 57-year-old Robert Farmer of Hamilton, was arrested for receiving stolen property.
NYC3 was closed for fire code violations.