Two teens accused of felony organized retail theft of thousands of dollars in products from a Chattanooga Boot Barn were arrested Saturday after an officer found them with more allegedly stolen merchandise from Hamilton Place mall, police said.
Tyler Browning, 19, and Makalia Mangham, 19, face several charges tied to shoplifting and selling the merchandise on Facebook, according to arrest reports. Police accused the pair of stealing from multiple locations, including the Boot Barn on Gunbarrel Road and the Palmetto Moon inside Hamilton Place mall. Police said they would seek warrants for a third person identified in the acts.
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A store manager told police the string of thefts started Dec. 12, when four people entered the Boot Barn store and took nearly $1,000 of merchandise. Two days later, three of the alleged shoplifters came back and took over $2,000 worth of product. Investigators noted none of them paid for anything, making identifying them more difficult.