Claremore police have arrested a Cuban man who they say helped steal more than $20,000 from a local meat market in an elaborate scheme.
Police say the driver who retrieved the stolen meat and transported it to Houston was Walter Cadenas Rodriguez.
Police said the man was in the country illegally and one of the victims assisted in his arrest.
Police say the culprit ordered thousands of dollars’ worth of meat over the phone, paid with a credit card, received the meat, then called his bank to report the card was stolen and reversed the payment.
When that happens, the business loses meat and money.
Eric Walk and his family own Walk Meat Company near Claremore and are currently losing more than $4,000, but the losses could have been much greater.
He said someone called last week to order $4,000 worth of meat and asked to pay by credit card.
Walk said the man turned up after hours in a small SUV to pick up an £800 order, which was the first of several red flags.
“It was weird for us to come in after hours. We told him our hours and he was like, ‘Leave the meat there and I’ll come and get it for you.’ But it’s 100 degrees outside. Who’s going to go and get it? It’s weird,” Walk said.
Walk then learned that another local butcher shop had been robbed just a few days earlier, and that the thieves had placed a $9,000 order this week, but this time, Walk said, he was prepared.
He sent a fake receipt and waited for it to arrive.
“So he comes out, shows them the receipt, and they come back to the office and their eyes get this big. Oh, there’s that guy here,” Walk said.
Claremore police arrived within minutes and arrested Walter Cadenas Rodriguez.
Police, the Rogers County District Attorney’s Office and Homeland Security found that Rodriguez helped steal more than $13,000 from a butcher shop in Ponca City and more than $4,000 from another butcher shop in Mayes County.
“It’s a big blow to some people. $10,000 is enough to put a business out of business. And they’re people just like us,” Walk said.
But it didn’t stop after his arrest.
Walk said he received a text message from Rodriguez’s boss saying the driver couldn’t be reached, so he planned to pick up the order himself.
Police said they found receipts on Rodriguez’s phone from other butcher shops in Oklahoma and Texas, and investigators plan to make more arrests.
