Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell recently announced the indictment of two California women accused of taking thousands of dollars in merchandise from retail stores in Phoenix, Gilbert, Glendale, Queen Creek, Anthem, and Scottsdale.
During four separate trips from Orange County to the Phoenix area in September and October, Ishanae Morgan Turner, 30, and Devony Candy Reneau, 29, are alleged to have removed products from twelve cosmetic, pharmacy, and grocery businesses. After their final theft on October 24, police spotted them and attempted to make a traffic stop. The duo fled at a high rate of speed, jumped out of the car, fled on foot and were ultimately arrested by police.
“On a short trip to Phoenix, these women did a great deal of damage,” said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. “These were not one-off cases. We are not talking about shoplifting. These defendants took time to carefully plan what they intended to do, which is the essence of organized crime. Unchecked, this is the kind of activity that becomes rampant in big cities, and I am simply not willing to tolerate it here. My office stands ready to prosecute these cases and send a clear message to thieves, and to their larger criminal organizations, that we will catch you and hold you accountable.”
In July 2022, County Attorney Mitchell created the Organized Retail Theft Taskforce at MCAO. One of the aims of the taskforce is to have a greater communication and collaboration among law enforcement and retailers in Maricopa County. We now have a more unified approach and single point of contact within the office that is monitoring trends and prolific offenders to combat this issue in our community.
Both defendants were also identified as suspects in other organized retail theft incidents in California and Nevada, and both have prior convictions.
Turner stands indicted on twelve felony counts of organized retail theft and one felony count of unlawful flight from law enforcement. Reneau’s indictment includes ten felony counts of organized retail theft.
