Waukesha men charged with theft of shrimp, chicken, frog legs



WAUKESHA (WITI) -- A criminal complaint charges two Waukesha man with the theft of shrimp, chicken and frog legs from Dierks Waukesha Wholesale Foods.

It happened between August 16th of 2013 and October 11th of 2013.

Miguel Garcia Salinas



Those charged are 23-year-old Miguel Garcia Salinas of Waukesha, and 31-year-old Pedro Maltos Castro of Waukesha.

Salinas faces one count of theft of movable property greater than $10,000, computer crimes - modify DNA, and theft of movable property greater than $2,500 to $5,000.

Castro faces one count of theft of movable property greater than $2,500 to $5,000.

A criminal complaint in the case says a complaint was made on October 1st, regarding a large amount of theft from Dierks Waukesha Wholesale Food.

Dierks CEO told officials between June 1st, 2013 and October 1st, 2013 he had approximately 63 large cases of shrimp go unaccounted for -- totaling a loss of approximately $12,000, according to the complaint.

The CEO told officials most of the cases were missing on Friday nights, during the night shift.

The CEO told officials his business does not have surveillance video -- and said he believes the shrimp may have been sold to restaurants for profit -- according to the complaint.

Surveillance was performed on Saturday, October 12th and Friday, October 18th.

The complaint says during the surveillance, officers were notified there was an adjustment made removing 11 cases of shrimp and five cases of chicken.

The complaint says officials noticed Salinas outside, near a vehicle, looking up at the manager's office windows directly above the employee door -- before running up to one of the garage doors.

The complaint says Salinas got the door halfway open, and then Castro slid a grey garbage bag to Salinas. Salinas was observed placing the bag in the trunk of the vehicle.

The complaint says the process was repeated three or four times.

The officers approached the vehicle as Salinas began to drive away, and questioned him about what was in the trunk. The complaint says Salinas told officials: "We're taking it to Pedro's house."

The complaint says Salinas was asked whether he stole the shrimp and he said yes -- and he and Castro were arrested on site.

The garbage bags were removed from the trunk, and they accounted for 120 individual bags of shrimp, 10 bags of chicken and three boxes of frog legs, according to the complaint.

The total value of the items was $3,165.90.

Salinas was questioned by officials, and said he had observed an employee taking shrimp from the business in July of 2013 -- saying the employee would take the bags of shrimp -- and then the two would split the product. Salinas told officials he would sell the bags of shrimp to a friend of his for $10 each, according to the complaint.

Salinas told officials he got the idea to steal his own shrimp after helping the employee on a few different occasions.

Salinas told officials he made about $3,000 from selling the stolen shrimp -- saying he had sold 60 to 70 cases of shrimp. The complaint says Salinas told officials this was the first time he had done so with Castro.