Target Catches Man Switching Price Tags: Complaint

SHOREWOOD, IL - Some shoplifters enter retail stores with duffle bags. Other people load up their carts full of liquor and groceries and try to make their way out of the store without anybody noticing. On Dec. 23, the Target security team in Shorewood busted 41-year-old Fernando Mendez of Joliet for switching price tags on various items of merchandise, court documents show.

Mendez was hauled in handcuffs by the Shorewood Police Department. He has been charged with two counts of felony retail theft. According to the criminal complaint, Mendez "knowingly transferred a price tag fixed to ... (a) Sonic Care toothbrush and alcoholic beverages in a retail mercantile establishment, Target, located at 1111 Brookforest Avenue, Shorewood."

The complaint states that Mendez "attempted to purchase (the) merchandise personally at less than full retail value with the intention of depriving the merchant of the full retail value of such merchandise."

Mendez is already a convicted thief, court records reveal. In 2005, also in Will County, he was convicted of the crime of theft.

After spending 25 hours in the Will County's detention, Mendez was released from custody on Christmas Eve. He came up with 10 percent of his bail, which was $50,000.

He lives in the 2400 block of Joliet's Blossom Street.

Court records also show that Mendez has retained the private law firm of Chuck Bretz & Associates.

Mugshot of Fernando Mendez via Will County Sheriff's Office