Suspect uses fake barcodes to steal $7,000 in TVs from BJ’s in Middleburg Heights

By Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.comMIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio – Police are looking for a 29-year-old Seven Hills man who used fake bar codes to steal two TVs, valued at a total of $7,800, from BJ’s Wholesale Club, 6944 West 130th Street.The first theft occurred on Aug. 31. The man entered BJ’s at about 1:30 p.m. and placed a barcode, electronically indicating the price, on a 65-inch TV.According to the fictitious barcode, the TV’s price was $322. The actual price was $3,900. The man, using a BJ’s member card, paid the fake price for the TV.The man wheeled the TV out of the store, placed it in a sport-utility vehicle and drove away.The second theft occurred at about 1 p.m. Sept. 4. The man used the same $322 barcode to buy another $3,900 TV.The thefts were captured on store security video. Police used the man’s BJ’s membership card and the security video to identify him.Police learned Sept. 8 that the same man was suspected of using the same process to steal a TV at a BJ’s store in Michigan. Security video at that store showed the man and his SUV. I cover City Halls and school boards in Brecksville, Broadview Heights, North Royalton and Strongsville, specializing in watchdog journalism. As a staff reporter for cleveland.com and Sun News, and now as a...