Accused Thieves Exchange Play-Doh For Dough At Target Stores

POLK COUNTY, FL -- Polk County sheriff’s deputies have arrested one man and are still searching for a second who reportedly put Play-Doh inside boxes that were supposed to contain computer hard drives and then returned them to the Target stores where they were purchased.

Jose Rivera Jr., 36, of Winter Park was arrested in Orange County Friday, Aug. 10, on a Polk County warrant for organized scheme to defraud and conspiracy to commit organized scheme to defraud. He'll be booked into the Orange County Jail and transferred to Polk at a later date.

Deputies are still looking for Rainer Bentulan, 32, of Orlando.

They are accused of fraudulent returns at Target stores in Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia counties, according to the Polk County Sheriff.

The sheriff said the pair purchased 69 Seagate brand external hard drives, which they would remove from the boxes. They then replaced the hard drives with Play-Doh and returned them to the Target stores using their original purchase receipts.

Target employees later discovered that the boxes, which seemed heavy enough to contain hard drives, was actually filled with Play-Doh.

"This is certainly a creative twist on a fraudulent return, but you can be sure that when we arrest these suspects, the handcuffs we use won't be made out of Play-Doh," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "They'll be metal, and they'll both be taking a ride to jail."

The value of the stolen hard drives is $6,159.

Rivera's criminal history includes arrests for dealing in stolen property, petit theft, grand theft, burglary and possession of marijuana. He's 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 190 pounds and has a tattoo that reads, "Jesus" on his right arm.

Bentulan's criminal history includes arrests for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, destruction of evidence, trafficking in cocaine, resisting arrest, grand theft of motor vehicle, petit theft and burglary. He's 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 190 pounds and has tattoos of a lion, and :Diane n Nyla" on his left arm, "thro lifestyle" on his chest, a five-pointed star, "son," "LK5," money bags and "give me the loot" on his left hand, a 12 and "Carmen" on his left leg, "Michele" on the back of his neck, a gun and "NYC" on his right arm and "true" on his stomach.

Anyone with information is asked to call sheriff's office at 863-298-6200 or Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226 TIPS (8477).

Images via Polk Sheriff

(For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)