Florida arrests made in Home Depot scam to rent, sell $1.1 million in equipment
Central Florida law enforcement charged members of an alleged theft involving renting equipment from Home Depot and selling it on Facebook marketplace across 16 counties that cost the chain more than $1.1 million.
On Thursday, officials arrested four of six people accused of targeting Home Depot stores and products in central and southeast Florida, according to a press release from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Those suspects are Byron Paul Johnson, 36, Michael Tyrone White, 39, Marquiel De’Shai Joseph, 36, and Ivan Flores Ramirez, 36.
Two other suspects, Natasha Anderson, 27, and Dwight Williams, 35, have warrants for their arrest.
In 2021, Home Depot investigators found a pattern for overdue large equipment rentals centered in the southeast region, which included Tampa and Orlando stores. These were one-day rentals featuring people with Orlando addresses who would disable the GPS devices within hours of the equipment leaving the store.
That equipment would later be posted on social media sites for sale.
The first theft took place on Oct. 26, 2021. Byron Johnson, of Orlando, filled out a rental form using his Florida driver’s license. Next, he listed that same item for sale on Facebook’s marketplace, according to the press release. Authorities tied Johnson to the thefts via social media, video surveillance, using his ID for the equipment and his own Facebook page to post the stolen items for sale.
Officials said he often told buyers he was a construction worker going out of business or that his father had passed away and he needed the money.
The buyer at the October sale told officials he recognized the auger was a Home Depot rental. He also noticed three other Black males trying to remove equipment from the trailer before they became nervous and left. He reported the incident to Indian River County sheriff’s deputies and gave them the tag number of the truck, the press release stated.
Polk deputies arrested Johnson in January 2022 after surveillance video caught him and several of his co-defendants filling out rental forms at a Polk County Home Depot. He was released from jail on bond but failed to appear.
Officials discovered Johnson used Natasha Anderson, of Orlando, and Ivan Ramirez, of Bradenton, to steal items that Johnson would later buy for a discounted price.
Home Depot’s investigation revealed the Johnson-led crew stole 61 pieces of equipment that came at a loss of $1.1 million to the chain.
Officials charged the six suspects with at least 50 fraudulent rentals and thefts.
The thefts occurred in the following counties: Brevard, Broward, Duval, Hernando, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Seminole, St. Johns, and St. Lucie, according to the press release.
Officials charged the suspects with various charges, including: grand theft, scheme to defraud, dealing in stolen property and unlawful possession of personal identification.
