May 9, 2024
Aziza Graves was found guilty after being accused of taking items to the self-checkout lane and putting in wrong prices and then selling the merchandise for higher prices
A woman who was convicted of stealing more than $60,000 from Target while using the self-checkout lane is facing more than three years in prison.
A press release from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office revealed that 43-year-old Aziza Graves, a San Francisco resident, was found guilty of one felony count of grand theft in violation and 52 misdemeanor counts of petty theft. The thefts all occurred at Target in Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco. Graves was also convicted of another count of misdemeanor petty theft for an incident at an Abercrombie and Fitch store in San Francisco.
Prosecutors alleged that the 43-year-old went to Target multiple times between October 3, 2020, and November 16, 2021. They accused her of stealing items that totaled more than $60,000 during that time. She would pick up merchandise and head to the self-checkout counter, scan each item, pay a nominal amount, typically a single coin or bill, and then leave the store with the items.
She would then take the items and sell them at UN Plaza to anyone who passed by her. Investigators from the San Francisco District Attorneys’ Investigative Bureau and the San Francisco Police Department’s Burglary Unit followed Graves several times and witnessed her selling the merchandise.
“Retail theft continues to have a major impact on San Francisco businesses from the small mom-and-pop corner store to the large retail stores,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins in a written statement. “Individuals such as Aziza Graves commit egregious thefts through brazen and repeated conduct that greatly impacts retailers’ ability to operate and serve the general public in their area. These crimes demand accountability, and we need to send the message to others who engage in open and brash thefts that, with the support of our local law enforcement partners, our office will continue to pursue and prosecute those involved. This verdict emphasizes that the citizens of San Francisco will not tolerate these offenders who attempt to take advantage of our business community.”
She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 24 and faces more than three years in state prison.
