On September 9, 2024 Dick’s Sporting Goods employee Francisco Rios, 19, was arrested accused of giving his friend free merchandise on multiple occasions. Francisco worked at the South Park Mall location on Barclay Downs Drive.
On September 2, 2024 Francisco was working at the cash register, his friend came to the line and Francisco pretended to scan the items and accept payment.
Francisco scanned 9 items for his friend, bagged them, and then removed the items from the payment screen before payment was completed.
Francisco then allowed his friend to leave the store without paying for the items. The total property loss equated to $799.96.
On September 6, 2024, another one of Francisco’s friends came to his line with merchandise.
Francisco scanned 8 items and bagged them. Francisco then removed the items from the payment screen again and allowed his friend to leave the store without paying.
The merchandise was valued at $619.99 on this occasion.
The total property loss between the two incidents was $1,419.95. Management at Dick’s saw what happened and contacted police.
Francisco admitted to the crime when questioned by police. Francisco was then arrested for embezzlement and then fired from his Dick’s sporting Goods job.
