Arrested: Marcus Villarreal, 37, Caldwell
Charge: Theft – Grand (F)
On May 29, 2025, Boise Police arrested suspect Marcus Villarreal on the charge of grand theft and recovered a large quantity of stolen and suspected stolen merchandise.
In early May, the Boise Police Department’s Organized Retail Crime Unit (ORC) and Property Crimes Unit began working with Amazon’s Loss Prevention team on an investigation into a suspected large-scale theft involving a third-party driver. Villarreal worked for a company responsible for picking up merchandise from Amazon facilities and delivering it to the United States Postal Service for distribution. Evidence indicates between January and May of 2025, Villarreal made partial deliveries and removed more than 1,000 items valued at more than $86,000 from the Amazon distribution center pallets he was hired to deliver. Villarreal then sold many of those items on social media and through online auctions. On May 29th, Boise Police investigators, the Idaho Department of Corrections, and Federal Probation made contact with Villarreal and began a search of his residence, an associated residence, his vehicle, and his storage unit. During the search, officers located hundreds of packages and boxes as well as a warehouse pallet. Amazon Loss Prevention investigators were on scene to assist in identifying known stolen items and collect the items for further investigation. Following an investigation, Villarreal was arrested and booked into the Ada County Jail on the listed charge.
“Investigations of this scale are only successful with the collaboration of our retail partners,” said Boise Police Detective Plaisted. “We’re grateful to Amazon’s Loss Prevention team for quickly identifying and escalating the issue. Criminal operations like this ultimately impact consumers the most, and stopping them helps protect the entire community.”