Tulsa Police arrest 4 in 71st Street crime spree, recover thousands in stolen goods

Tulsa Police arrested four people accused of going on a crime spree and stealing several thousand dollars’ worth of items from at least seven stores along 71st Street.

Police say the suspects' car was packed full of stolen clothes.

The suspects:

TPD’s Mingo Valley Street Crimes Unit arrested Cody Farrow, Cody Stanford, Hope Taylor and Kyla Kester. Police say the four thieves would go into a store, steal a bunch of clothes, then go back to their car and change into those clothes. Police say they did this over and over again.

Police say the suspects stole from several businesses along 71st Street, from Tulsa Hills to Woodland Hills Mall. Police say when they found the thieves, they were changing clothes in a Hobby Lobby parking lot.

"There were four people and a dog inside the SUV and it was hard for four people to find room in there, it was that full. Like the rear cargo area was completely stacked to the ceiling, the second row was completely filled with clothing, there was large industrial garbage bags full of clothing,” said Lieutenant Chad Murtaugh with Tulsa Police.

Seven stores hit:

Investigators say the thieves stole $1,162 worth of stuff from Dick’s House of Sport and $1,103 from TJ Maxx. Police say they stole several hundred dollars’ worth of clothes from Home Depot, Nordstrom Rack, Hobby Lobby, Marshall's, Hibbert Sports and Old Navy.

Police were able to get the stolen products back to the businesses, but that's not always the case.

"You know a lot of them, they are a big box chain, but you multiple that across the country and you are getting these losses from these businesses and they are having to absorb those costs,” said Murtaugh.

Going after serial thieves:

Police say they also found a gun, meth and fentanyl inside the car. Lieutenant Murtaugh says stopping serial thieves can lead to a big drop in crime.

"If you can have the opportunity to take the biggest bite out of something that you can, people that continue to victimize the businesses and the citizens of Tulsa, that's what we are going to try to do,” said Murtaugh.

Police say one of the suspects, Codey Farrow, is wanted in Arkansas. Police say another one of the other suspects, Cody Stanford, is tied to other investigations in Tulsa.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says organized retail crime cost businesses tens of billions of dollars in 2022 across the country, and they've seen it go up by 50% in the past five years.