Business & Tech

Couple Charged With Shoplifting Thousands in Merchandise From Stores in Apple Valley, Twin Cities

Elizabeth Hobbs and Zachary Hobbs allegedly told police that they shoplifted from stores around the Twin Cities to help support their family.

A Farmington couple has been charged with theft after authorities say they shoplifted thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from stores in Apple Valley and other cities in Dakota and Hennepin counties. Ultimately, the couple returned items totaling more than $4,000 in value to police, according to a criminal complaint, while they allegedly told police they had sold other items online.

Elizabeth Sarah Hobbs, 28, and Zachary Michael Hobbs, 29, each face a felony theft charge in the case. The maximum penalty for each is five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaints against the couple, an Apple Valley police officer went to Target on Jan. 12 when Target employees reported they had caught a shoplifter.

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An employee told police he had followed Elizabeth Hobbs around the store for more than an hour, watching her allegedly select and conceal merchandise in her coat, her purse and a diaper bag before leaving the store, the complaint says.

Hobbs was stopped and brought back into the store, and store employees found more than $500 worth of shoplifted merchandise, according to the complaint.

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Hobbs allegedly said she had shoplifted other items during “multiple previous trips” to the store; she told authorities that she shoplifted to help support her “financially strained” family, the complaint says.

She allegedly told police that in addition to shoplifting items for her family to use, she stole Blu-ray DVDs and sold them online, according to the complaint.

Hobbs, who estimated that she and her husband had shoplifted about six times from Christmas to the Jan. 12 date, told authorities that the couple frequently shoplifted from several retail stores, and she provided an “extensive list” of merchandise that she had stolen, the complaint says.

A Target loss prevention officer found surveillance video of the couple allegedly shoplifting DVDs on Jan. 10.

On Jan. 13, Elizabeth Hobbs and Zachary Hobbs delivered six shopping bags full of shoplifted merchandise to the Apple Valley Police Department, the complaint says.

Zachary Hobbs told police that they kept some items to use, but other items were sold online for money to help pay household bills, according to the complaint.

The total value of the items returned by the couple—and ultimately returned to the stores—was $4,210, the complaint says.


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