A 33-year-old UPS employee was arrested by Ocala police for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from undelivered packages and selling the items on his wife’s Facebook page.
On Wednesday, Ocala Police Department officers responded to the UPS facility located at 300 SW 28th Avenue in Ocala in reference to multiple theft incidents.
According to OPD, numerous items were missing from undelivered packages, which prompted an investigation by the facility’s loss prevention officer. During that investigation, the loss prevention officer discovered that an employee, identified as Jose Alejandro Flores Franco, had been allegedly stealing the items and selling them on Facebook.
OPD stated that the loss prevention officer located several Apple iPhones, Apple Watches, AirPods, and Pandora Jewelry that were posted for sale on the Facebook Marketplace. Some of the serial numbers from those iPhones matched the missing iPhones from packages that were at the UPS location.
The estimated value of the stolen items was $11,900. This included 48 packages of Pandora Jewelry ($4,800 value), seven iPhones ($6,000 value), and three Apple Watches ($1,100), according to OPD.
An OPD officer and two detectives responded to Franco’s residence to recover the stolen items. The police department stated that electronics were found in their original packaging inside the home, and the recovered items included iPhones, Apple and Galaxy Watches, tablets, and numerous pieces of jewelry (bracelets, earrings, rings, and chains).
Franco was arrested, transported to Marion County Jail, and he was later released on $7,000 bond. He is facing felony charges for grand theft (over $10,000 but less than $20,000) and dealing in stolen property.
A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.