WEST ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — A 53-year-old South St. Paul man has been charged with theft, after police say he stole thousands of dollars worth of detergent from a retailer.
According to the criminal complaint, Patrick Paul Costanzo was spotted on surveillance video pushing carts full of detergent out of a store without paying for it.
Police met with a loss prevention employee at the store in West St. Paul who said the inventory audit showed an abnormal loss of Tide laundry detergent.
According to loss prevention, the total thefts documented on video surveillance was estimated at approximately $6,000. They also told police that over the past 15 months, inventory reports showed a loss of $25,000 in missing laundry detergent.
Video surveillance showed the same man taking detergent and other items on four out of five days during the week, without paying for it.
On Feb. 8, the suspect, later identified as Costanzo, entered the store and attempted to push out another cart of items without paying for them but was detained by staff.
Video surveillance showed that in addition to the date of Costanzo’s arrest, he was seen at the store on 28 days between Jan. 1 and Feb. 7, selecting laundry detergent and other items. The total amount of merchandise taken between those dates was $6,339.09.
