Armstrong DA approves extradition of three Virginia men accused of stealing from Walmart

Three Virginia men accused of stealing more than $6,000 worth of merchandise from an Armstrong County Walmart will return to Pennsylvania to face felony theft charges, state police in Kittanning said.

The Armstrong County District Attorney approved the extradition of Shawn Terrance Acklin, 27; Adarrus DePriest Ferguson, 27, and Brandon Laroy Franklin, 23, all who remained in the RSW Regional Jail in Front Royal, Va., on Monday, Trooper Anthony Vaccaro said.

“As soon as Virginia is done with them, we’ll be picking them up and bringing them up here for their hearings,” Vaccaro said.

The three men, all of Norfolk, Va., were arrested when they attempted to steal from a Walmart store in Luray, Va., Vaccaro said.

They also are suspected in thefts at other Walmarts in Western Pennsylvania.

“These guys, it isn’t their first rodeo — they’re professionals,” Vaccaro said.

Troopers said the three men, along with another unidentified man, went to the Walmart store in East Franklin, Armstrong County, on Jan. 26.

They allegedly grabbed carts and filled them with various high-price items, such as robot vacuum cleaners, routers and other electronics.

Vaccaro said the men followed the same method of operation in each of the burglaries.

He said one man would go inside to survey the store, then come back out. After that, all four men would go into the store, and spread out to make it look like they weren’t together. One of the men would then act as lookout while the others stole merchandise using carts.

“He let’s them know where all the security guys are at and all the employees so they can stay out of sight. Then they just load up and walk right out of the store,” Vaccaro said.

“It’s kind of comical when you see these three individuals in the middle of the night with shopping carts overfull of electronics. You’ve got a guy who’s got three or four vacuums of the same kind in his cart and nobody’s thinking, ‘Hey, let me stop this guy and find out what’s going on.’”

The fourth man hadn’t been identified or charged as of Monday afternoon.

According to troopers, the men allegedly stole $4,000 to $6,000 worth of items from other Walmarts and stores across Western Pennsylvania.

In Armstrong County, the men face charges of organized retail theft and retail theft.