Michigan men arrested in Virginia linked to $5K electronics theft at Walmart near Delmont

Murrysville police have obtained arrest warrants for three Michigan men they claim stole more than $5,000 worth of electronics at the Walmart store near Delmont in January.

Shawn T. Acklin, 27, and Adarius D. Ferguson, 28, both of Benton Harbor, and Brandon L. Franklin, 23, of Detroit, are charged with retail theft, criminal conspiracy and organized retail theft before Export District Judge Charles Conway.

The men are believed to be part of an organized retail team that stole items from Walmarts in several states, according to court documents.

Officer Corey Fearon reported that the trio also is believed to have been involved in stealing electronics at a Walmart near Kittanning, Armstrong County, in the same time period. No charges are filed in that case, according to online dockets.

Fearon alleges that the men fled the Walmart store on Hollywood Boulevard just after midnight Jan. 27 without paying for 22 items loaded in shopping carts, including security camera systems, routers and vacuum cleaners. He said surveillance video cameras showed the men fled in a large, silver Nissan sport-utility vehicle that had a Pennsylvania license plate.

Two days later, police in Luray, Va., arrested the men as they fled a Walmart there with more than $3,000 worth of stolen electronics. Fearon said police connected them to the local thefts through photographs taken by officials in Virginia after the arrest and through the rented Nissan SUV they were stopped in that had the same Pennsylvania license plate.

The men are also believed to have been involved in similar thefts committed in Maryland and West Virginia, according to court documents.