Clovis Police search for suspect in ‘prolific’ retail theft

CLOVIS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Clovis man is in jail, and a local resale shop is out thousands of dollars after a major retail theft scam.

Police suspect Sean Byer of Clovis and Daniel Duncan of Pennsylvania of stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise from Target, Best Buy, Harbor Freight, and Guitar Center.

They say the suspects then sold those items to the Clovis resale business Cell Now.

“Some of the items that were recovered at the resale business in Clovis included Yeti items such as mugs and shot glasses. There were televisions, there were Wi-Fi routers,” Ty Wood with the Clovis Police Department said.

Wood says the investigation began when detectives arrested Byer at his home in Clovis Wednesday.

He is their 247th organized retail crime arrest so far this year.

“He was arrested on several felonies, such as shoplifting with priors, organized retail theft, and others,” Wood said.

Officers then traced all of his stolen items back to Cell Now. While they were at the store, they found many other stolen items as well, which they linked to Duncan.

“[Duncan] is originally from Pennsylvania. We don’t know if he’s still in the area at this time, but we are looking for him,” Wood said.

He says Cell Now is cooperating with the investigation, and the stolen items are being returned to their original stores.

“All of the items that were recovered today were still sealed in their original packaging,” Wood said. “I would encourage any resale business to try to verify specifically those items, especially if they’re sealed in the original packaging.”

Wood estimates the stolen items totaled nearly $20,000. However, Cell Now’s store manager told a reporter that number is incorrect, but did not provide the correct number.

He added that, since the arrest, they have put up a sign warning customers that they report all sales to the Department of Justice.

Police are now asking for the community’s help in finding Duncan. They say anyone with information on his location should call Clovis Police.