2 women charged in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach retail thefts: Report
Two women accused of stealing from retail stores throughout South Florida were arrested on Tuesday, records showed.
Vanessa Equsquiza, 49, and Nayeli Corrales, 23, were charged with third-degree grand theft and dealing in stolen property.
According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, deputies were investigating a series of retail thefts that happened between Dec. 23 and Feb. 26 at several CVS and Navarro pharmacies in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
An arrest report said that surveillance footage and statements from employees aided detectives in identifying Equsquiza, Corrales and another person, Willshaye Davis, as suspects who worked together as they entered retail stores, grabbed high-end cosmetic items, hid them in purses and left without paying.
The first documented instance of these thefts happened on Oct. 5, when Equsquiza walked into a CVS store in Miami-Dade, walked to the cosmetic section, took merchandise from shelves and hid them in her purse, the report said.
The following dates and locations where the suspects went into retail stores and allegedly grabbed cosmetic merchandise and hid them in their purses and bags include the following:
- Dec. 23: Equsquiza and Davis went to a CVS in Aventura
- Jan.6: Equsquiza, Davis and Corrales went to a CVS in Miami
- Jan. 20: Equsquiza and Davis went to a Navarro in Miami
- Jan. 24: Equsquiza, Davis and Corrales went to a CVS in Miami
- Jan. 28: Equsquiza went to a CVS in Miami
- Feb. 5: Equsquiza and Corrales went to a Navarro in Miami
- Feb. 11: Equsquiza, Davis and Corrales went to a CVS in Miami
- Feb. 13: Equsquiza, Davis and Corrales went to a Navarro in Hialeah
- Feb. 17: Equsquiza, Davis and Corrales went to a CVS in Pinecrest and a CVS in Miami
- Feb. 21: Equsquiza went to a CVS in Miami
- Feb. 23: Equsquiza went to a CVS in Coconut Grove. The same day, she and Davis went to a Navarro in Miami
Deputies said that between those three months, the three suspects were responsible for 71 thefts across those three counties, and stole over $159,469.32 in merchandise.
During their investigation, it was revealed that the three suspects also sold the merchandise each day when they stole it, the report said.
Equsquiza, the report said, was arrested on Tuesday at Southwest 147th Avenue while she was in the passenger side of her car. When detectives searched her car, they found a Ziplock bag that had suspected marijuana.
She was then taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Corrales was arrested at her home and confessed to the thefts, the report said.
Charges for Davis were not released.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier held a press conference joined by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and CEO of the Florida Retail Federation, where he announced seven other arrests related to retail theft, which he referred to as the “Beauty Bag Bandits.”
