Two Men Steal 140 Shopping Carts Forcing Shoppers to Buy 10 Items or Less

Disclaimer: While this article is based on neatly stacked shelves of facts, it does contain a sticky spillage of satire in Aisle 4.

What has 4 feet, 560 wheels, and squeaks? The answer is two men rolling 140 shopping carts away from the ShopRite in Rochelle Park, New Jersey. That is the crime that suspects 77-year-old Alfredo Rodriguez and 54-year-old Hector Cortes have been charged with. The shopping cart crime spree occurred between March 28th and April 9th, as the men would come with a red van and steal the carts a few at a time.

The men were able to get away with the theft for two weeks because ShopRite security had its hands full—literally, their hands were full because there were so few shopping carts to put stuff in. When police finally caught Rodriguez and Cortes, the men had five carts in the back of the van. They claimed, “Those aren’t ours,” and the cops said, “Bingo.”

“My partner and I ran out there, we blocked the guys in. It wasn’t hard because they were old and slow.”

Rochelle Park Detective Nick Mercoun

The Rochelle Park police have dubbed the criminal duo the “Shopping Cart Bandits” because they’ve been dying to give out cool criminal nicknames, and not a lot of exciting things happen in Rochelle Park. Other nicknames that were suggested include “The ShopRite Wrongdoers” and “The Shopping Cartel.”

When reviewing the surveillance footage, police said the most surprising thing was that the 77-year-old Rodriguez was the one lifting the carts into the van. Experts say this is a textbook example of “old man strength.” It’s similar to when a mom musters the ability to lift a car that is pinning down her child, except with old men it’s usually reserved for pushing young people out of the way or carrying sacks of potatoes.

ShopRite reported the value of the stolen carts at $28,000, citing a cost of $200 per cart. Police don’t know the motive for the crime but suspect that the men were planning to sell them on the black (super) market. Either that, or they were going to make a really long shopping cart train and sell rides to local kids.

The crime may seem unique, but the Food Marketing Institute estimates that 2 million shopping carts are stolen each year. With a population of 333 million people in the United States, that means that on average, 1 out of every 167 people steals a shopping cart each year. Next time you’re at a football game or a Taylor Swift concert, just imagine that there are about 400 shopping cart thieves among you.