TEXARKANA, Texas–A Louisiana man accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools from a Home Depot store in Texarkana is also suspected of committing similar thefts at Home Depot outlets in other Texas locations.
Randy Paul Pepper, 46, was the subject of a suspicious person call to the Texarkana Texas Police Dept. on Nov. 26, according to a probable cause affidavit. Pepper was arrested in a Target parking lot near Home Depot on unrelated outstanding warrants after briefly running on foot from officers who approached him.
A Home Depot employee reported to police that Pepper had been observed spending hours in the store and a review of video surveillance footage revealed that he had allegedly stolen tools from the store Nov. 25. Pepper could allegedly be seen crouching in an aisle and reaching deep into the shelves to reach the back of locked wire cages containing valuable tools.
Pepper allegedly cut the cages and removed tools from the back, hiding them inside a plastic tote. Pepper allegedly paid a little more than $15 for a couple of totes before returning to the store with his receipt in hand. He allegedly left the store with a third tote he did not pay for that investigators suspect contained tools he had removed from caged enclosures, the affidavit said.
In December, investigators learned that Pepper was suspected of stealing from Home Depots in Carrollton and Irving, Texas. A detective in Carrollton allegedly told Texarkana police that Pepper was suspected of stealing tools from a Home Depot in that city in the same manner as in Texarkana.
A search of Pepper’s van allegedly revealed a number of Home Depot totes and Milwaukee brand tools valued at a total of nearly $4,000, all of which were later determined to have been stolen from Home Depot in Texarkana.
A warrant for Pepper’s arrest in Carrollton remains active, according to the affidavit.
Pepper has been housed in the Bowie County jail since his arrest Nov. 26 with bail set at $40,000.
If convicted of theft of property valued over $2,500 but under $30,000 or of evading arrest with a prior conviction, Pepper faces six months to two years in a state jail on each count.
The case has been assigned to 102nd District Judge Jeff Addison. Pepper is represented by the Bowie County Public Defender’s Office.