Office Depot delivery man accused of stealing large stash of supplies
TRACY
— Investigators on Friday arrested a Tracy man suspected of stealing
more than $15,000 in office supplies he was supposed to have been
delivering.
Martin Felix,
20, of Tracy, was arrested on suspicion of stolen property and grand
theft charges while making deliveries in Stockton.Police discovered the
stash in a storage unit registered to his name, pulling out dozens of
boxes marked “Office Depot,” Tracy police Detective Keith Hooks
said.Felix was booked into San Joaquin County Jail and is expected to
appear in court early next week.
Hooks said authorities found
between $12,000 and $15,000 worth of stolen merchandise from Office
Depot between two sites associated with Felix.”There is tons of stuff,”
Hooks said. “We’re still in the process of adding it up. It was a good
arrest. All our resources worked together to take a suspected criminal
off the street.”Hooks said there is a possibility Felix could face
embezzlement charges as well.
On Monday, Tracy Police were
alerted to large quantities of merchandise missing from an Office Depot
distribution warehouse, 1820 N. MacArthur Drive. Investigators said
Felix works for a company that contracts with Office Depot to deliver
orders.Items loaded onto Felix’s truck were scanned and
counted, but they weren’t arriving at their intended destinations,
Hooks said.Hooks said he began searching storage facilities in town and
found Felix had rented a spaceat Extra Storage Space, 780 E. 11th
St.After obtaining a search warrant, investigators opened the storage
space and found boxes full of batteries, optical mouses, printer ink
cartridges and photo paper, many in boxes marked with the red Office
Depot logo, Hooks said.There’s evidence Felix visited the storage space
several times in his van, which displays Office Depot’s logo, Hooks
said.
Officials from Office Depot declined to comment.
While
looking for Felix, Hooks said police searched Felix’s home on the 200
block of West Lowell Avenue.There, he said, police found more boxes
labeled “Office Depot.”