Arizona power tool thief indicted on 28 felony charges

A Valley man and woman are facing dozens of felony charges after a cross-county retail theft spree targeted more than two dozen home improvement stores and local businesses, authorities announced Friday.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office indicted Daniel Crouse, 33, and Stephanie Bandin, 38, following a multi-month investigation into thefts that cost local retailers more than $30,000.

According to prosecutors, Crouse went on a theft spree between March and May of this year, hitting eight Lowe’s stores, 17 Home Depot locations and a Shopper Supply store to steal power tools. Investigators also used surveillance footage to link Crouse to the theft of a luxury purse from a Dillard’s department store in Chandler.

When Chandler police officers tracked Crouse down to make an arrest, his girlfriend, Bandin, allegedly used her vehicle to block officers from reaching him.

The intervention didn’t work, and police arrested both of them.

Follow-up investigations later placed Bandin on surveillance video stealing power tools from a local Home Depot, authorities said.

Crouse faces one count of felony theft and 27 counts of organized retail theft. Bandin is charged with one count of organized retail theft and one count of first-degree hindering prosecution, a class 5 felony.

Related

Thief who swiped items worth over $140,000 from multiple Arizona Walmarts sentenced to prisonMesa man indicted for string of Home Depot self-checkout theftsPhoenix man sentenced in golf theft ring targeting Valley sporting goods storesMan who stole merchandise for Arizona retail theft ring gets 6.5-year prison sentenceArizona halts Salt River wild horse removals, orders genetic studyTucson police recruit fatally shot at home, masked gunmen at large