WICHITA FALLS, Tx (RNN Texoma) –
A former Wichita Falls Police Officer, his wife, son and step-daughter were arrested for their alleged part in an organized retail theft ring.
Scott Bradley Higgins, 54, Angelique Renee Higgins, 50, Spencer Alan Higgins, 20, and Sydney Leanne Stockton, 30, were all booked into the Wichita County Jail on Tuesday.
Angelique and Stockton have only been charged with Organized Retail Theft Over $300,000. Scott and Spencer face the same charge in addition to one count of Money Laundering Over $300,000.
According to an arrest affidavit, an investigation took place over the course of a year with several agencies looking into the illegal activities of Scott Higgins. In the documents, it states Scott is medically retired from the Wichita Falls Police Department.
Investigators were made aware of a ‘scheme’ where Scott Higgins would buy expensive retail items that had been stolen from retail stores like Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s.
According to the arrest affidavit, these items were stolen by local, drug-addicted individuals who would then sell the merchandise to Scott Higgins for a third or half of the retail price. Scott Higgins would then sell those items on sites like Amazon or eBay, according to authorities.
An investigation began on August 2, 2017, when Target Regional Loss Prevention contacted the WFPD about numerous thefts at Target stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area by suspects who live in Wichita Falls.
One of the suspects told investigators he was stealing the items at the direction of a man named Scott Higgins. Detectives went onto speak with several suspects involved in different thefts across the north Texas area who all stated they were stealing the items to sell to Scott Higgins.
Investigators listened to telephone calls made from the Wichita Co. Jail between some of the suspects and Scott Higgins where he would talk about helping the suspects to make bail but referred to one as getting “deeper and deeper in this hole,” according to court documents.
In April 2018, surveillance was setup at the home of Higgins. Law enforcement officials could see ‘enormous’ amounts of new retail merchandise in his garage.
Scott Higgins was observed loading multiple boxed items from inside his garage into the back of his truck. Scott was then followed to a shipping store on Kemp Blvd. Scott was seen taking six tankless hot water heaters into the store, standing in line and shipping the items.
Following information from ‘cooperating individuals,’ undercover agents conducted an operation to sell Scott perceived stolen items in May 2018. During the operation, money and merchandise were exchanged at the home of Higgins.
Facebook messenger conversations between Scott Higgins and numerous individuals associated with narcotics or thefts were also observed by law enforcement.
In the messages, the conversations revolved around the ‘enormous organized theft’ of retail products from retail stores, according to court documents. The conversations involved scoping out particular items, traveling in groups to maximize efforts, detailed instructions on how to carry out the thefts, counterfeiting receipts and the sale of the merchandise.
Banking documents were obtained for Scott Higgins, Angelique Higgins and Spencer Higgins from January 2017 through April 2018. After reviewing the documents, authorities believe more than $125,000 from Scott and Angelique’s account was illegitimately obtained, according to court documents.
Multiple accounts under Scott, Angelique, Spencer and Stockton’s name had hundreds of thousands of dollars deposited and withdrawn between April 2017 and April 2018.
Further review of the accounts showed checks with written memo lines that read, “Ebay,” “13 Dyson Sale,” “eBay account,” and “Ebay fees.” Those checks were written out to Spencer Higgins and Sydney Stockton and were believed to be for eBay fees for sales made from Spencer and Stockton’s eBay accounts.
Multiple eBay accounts associated with the suspects had selling restrictions placed on them by eBay requesting proof of ownership of the items listed. A large number of PayPal accounts where funds were deposited into accounts for the suspects were also tied to Scott, Angelique, Spencer and Stockton.
News Channel 6 is working to learn the details surrounding Scott Higgins’ medically retired status from the WFPD and how much he was paid by the city during his alleged involvement in this crime.
As of Wednesday evening, all four remained behind bars in the Wichita Co. Jail. Scott and Spencer have a $50,000 bond. Angelique and Stockton have a $25,000 bond.
Stay with News Channel 6 as we continue to follow this developing story.
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