Police uncover fast food workers selling stolen goods from chicken shop

Three fast food workers in Tucson, Ariz. used their restaurant as a base to fence shoplifted goods, according to police. Fabian Rodriguez Rios, 61, Lydia Grijalva-Velasquez, 52, and Francis Sophia Vasquez, 45, from their Pollo Feliz location, Tucson police said Tuesday in a Facebook post. All three suspects have been charged with trafficking stolen property. The scheme was fairly simple, according to police. The three workers would meet with “known shoplifters” outside the restaurant, where they would purchase stolen goods at low prices, cops said. After that, they would sell the items out of their homes and online. The investigation began in December 2022 as a shoplifting case and eventually grew to involve Homeland Security Investigations. The investigation culminated in raids on the restaurant and the suspects’ homes on Nov. 29, cops said. All three were arrested that day but have since been released, Tucson NBC affiliate KVOA reported.