NAPLES, Fla — A Naples man is facing grand theft charges after deputies say video caught him swapping out bar codes to steal more than $1,000 worth of items from a Costco.
Police say “barcode swapping” is when someone takes a different barcode (one for a cheaper item) and places it on a more expensive item to get it for less money. With more self-checkout lanes in stores, it can happen quite often.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office put out the incident in late April, saying 38-year-old Robert Mendoza Correa tampered with items inside of a Naples Costco. Deputies said Correa switched the UPC barcode from an $800 generator with the barcode for a $100 vacuum - in order to save the difference.
CCSO said that, days later, the same man went back and tampered with a $300 electric toothbrush and a $160 digital picture frame to get them for much less.
Cape Coral police weren’t part of the investigation in Naples. However, Brandon Sancho, a Public Information Officer with the Cape Coral Police Department, said this phenomenon isn’t new.
“What these people do - they’re almost professionals at it,” Officer Sancho said. “I have personally actually been on calls for service where items were being swapped… it wasn’t food. It wasn’t things out of, you know, necessity like medicine and things of that nature. It was things like makeup, clothing, and stuff like that.”
Sancho added that self-checkout makes this kind of crime easier.
“These subjects are scanning those new tags, or possibly not even scanning them, and then leaving the actual store,” Sancho said.
Sancho said that people could be arrested for retail theft or grand theft for this sort of crime.
“The swapping shows intent,” Sancho said. “You’re still looking to commit the crime of retail theft. That can be considered, and you could be taken to jail, for retail theft even if you don’t walk out of the store with anything. Also, depending on the actual dollar amount, if it’s above $750, that’s going to be a felony.”
The Naples man, who was caught on Costco’s security cameras, is currently at the Naples Jail Center.
