The Manteca Police Department hasn’t been shy about advertising their successes when it comes to arresting those responsible for organized retail crimes.

And on Wednesday, they proved that their efforts do more than simply take the thieves off the street for a little while by announcing that a pair of Modesto residents will enjoy an extended stay behind bars as a result of their targeting of businesses that have cost retail providers tens of thousands of dollars.

Zalena Herrera, 25, of Modesto, pled guilty last month to organized retail theft and grand theft and was sentenced to three years in prison – which will be served at the San Joaquin County Jail. As part of the plea agreement Herrera will spend 20 months behind bars followed by 16 months of supervised felony probation.

Her partner in crime – 27-year-old Charles Bryant of Modesto – has been in custody since the pair were arrested in October and was sentenced to 300 days in the San Joaquin County Jail.

According to authorities, the pair was believed to be targeting Target stores across multiple counties – racking up $2,300 worth of thefts at the Manteca Target alone – and were suspected of having been responsible for $20,000 worth of thefts but had failed to show up for their respective court dates. Both were on probation for previous theft convictions.

It was Manteca Police Department Detective Dave Brown – who is assigned to organized retail crime – that tracked the two of them down to a house in Modesto, and with the help of the Modesto Police Department’s Property Crimes Unit, both Herrera and Bryant were taken into custody without incident.

While they were both arrested, Herrera was ultimately released and returned to Manteca in January where she was arrested with a new accomplice attempting to steal more than $1,000 worth of merchandise from the Manteca Kohl’s store after loss prevention had contacted Manteca Police who were in the area when the pair ran out of an emergency exit.

The Organized Retail Crime unit of the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the cases.

While agencies across California were seeking ways to control organized retail theft – where criminals load up baskets or bags with merchandise and run out of the store – the Manteca Police assigned Brown to develop relationships with loss prevention teams at various retailers and get the pulse of the costly activity within Manteca’s city limits in order to build a plan to prevent future crimes from taking place.

The program has been so successful that other agencies throughout California have contacted Brown in order to imitate his approach in their jurisdictions to stamp out organized retail crime groups that may be operating in the area.

While most shoppers wouldn’t even notice the grab-and-dash technique that organized retail thieves employ, the sheer volume of what steal ultimately translates into higher prices for law-abiding shoppers.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.