3 Men Had 146 Stolen Cases Of Red Bull, 17 Fake Food Stamp Cards: Bergen County Cops

PARAMUS, NJ — Three men were arrested Tuesday after being caught with 146 cases of stolen soda and 17 fake food stamp cards, police said.

The Paramus Police Department arrested Tavonte McClary, 26, Shaheim Scarborough, 22, Nicholas Whitaker, 27, all from New York City, for organized retail theft, possession of stolen property, fraudulent use of credit cards, identity theft, trafficking in personal identification, and use of a re-encoder device, police said Wednesday.

Police said that on Tuesday, they responded to BJ's Wholesale Club on Route 17 on a report of suspicious people in a U-Haul van who were suspected of creating fake credit cards.

Police found the vehicle, with Tavonte McClary inside, they said.

They then saw Scarborough walking toward the van with a shopping cart full of cases of Red Bull Energy Drinks, police said.

Both men provided false identities to police and were arrested, police said.

Scarborough was also found to have debit cards with various names, and two blank EBT (government Electronic Benefits Transfer food cards). McClary also had two blank EBT cards, police say.

Police then found more than 100 cases of Red Bull Energy Drinks in the back of the van, police said. They determined the drinks had all come from the store.

Video surveillance helped police determine that the drinks had been obtained fraudulently.

Police found Whitaker and took him into custody. He was seen on video pushing a shopping cart with 15 cases of Red Bull Energy Drinks and three additional items that he abandoned in the parking lot when he saw police, they said.

A fourth suspect has not been found yet, police said Wednesday.

Police found a total of 154 pieces of stolen merchandise worth $7,928, including 146 cases of Red Bull, they said.

They also found 17 blank EBT cards, four stolen or fraudulent debit cards, two other piece of identification with different names, and a credit card magnetic stripe re-encoding device, police said.

Whitaker was charged with organized retail theft, possession of stolen property, and identity theft charges.

Scarborough was also charged with organized retail theft, possession of stolen property, and identity theft charges. He was also charged with hindering apprehension.

McClary was charged with organized retail theft, possession of stolen property, identity theft charges, and hindering, police said.