MIAMI (AP) - A mother and son stole more than $2 million in expensive toys by
stashing them inside the boxes of cheaper products that they bought at
Toys R Us stores across the U.S., authorities say.
Broward County Sheriff's deputies say Michael and Margaret Pollara then
sold the big-ticket items online, according to an arrest affidavit. They
were arrested Thursday and face a bevy of theft charges. Both remain in
jail, and it's not clear if either has an attorney.
Michael and Margaret Pollara visited 139 Toys R Us in 27 states,
including California, Hawaii and New York, buying nearly $7,000 worth of
small-ticket items to fuel their scam, according to the affidavit.
Authorities were able to track Michael Pollara's purchases across the
country because he used a Toys R Us rewards card for all of his
purchases.
Authorities said the Pollaras trolled stores looking for inexpensive
toys that came in large boxes. They then emptied out the contents and
filled the large box with more expensive toys, including $150 Lego sets
and Leapster Pads, worth $99 apiece. The pair would hide the cheap
contents somewhere around the store and pay for the inexpensive large
box filled with more expensive goodies. Seventy-year-old Margaret
Pollara often worked as a lookout, according to the arrest report.
Authorities tracked the two for months, watching them allegedly steal
from various stores around the state and later ship packages filled with
toys. Michael Pollara, 46, had more than $900,000 in eBay and PayPal
accounts, according to the report.
Authorities began following the two in May after a Toys R Us employee in
South Florida noticed that several large Lego boxes were missing even
though she had seen them on the shelf earlier that morning. Store video
showed Michael Pollara carrying the Lego box in the toy aisle, but the
video did not show him actually removing the contents. He used a Toys R
Us rewards card, which helped authorities track his purchases around the
country.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
