7 more suspects also jailed, accused of stealing drills from Home Depot and delivering them to mastermind so he could sell them online, deputies say
SOUTH DAYTONA — Nearly $1 million dollars worth of high-end drills were being stolen and hocked on eBay and detectives traced the entire operation to a single strip mall pawn shop.
Accused mastermind Richard Hill was arrested, as were his two teams of suspected accomplices, who Sheriff Mike Chitwood referred to as hired "boosters" — front-line thieves who stealthily removed the DeWALT drills from local hardware stores and brought them to Hill to be sold online, he said.
Due to the level of organization, detectives charged Hill and others with racketeering and other felonies.
"Volusia County detectives, when they get a tip, they are going to run it and work it to the ground," Chitwood said of his detectives during a media conference Thursday afternoon in front of Richard Hill's Music & Pawn, 2550 S. Nova Road.
Hill, 51, was charged with four counts of dealing with stolen property, as well as one count each of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. He is being held without bail at the Volusia County Branch Jail.
Detectives said the thieves would grab as many drills as they could from various Home Depots across Volusia. They would receive 25 percent of the sticker price from Hill, who would then sell them on eBay and pocket all of the money from those sales, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The drills range in price from $85 to $300 each.
The Sheriff's Office received a call from a Home Depot loss prevention officer in December 2017. An investigation was open and it took little time for detectives to realize how large the operation was, Chitwood said.
One team was made up of a man and a woman who are involved in a romantic relationship. Daniel Conway, 48, and Danielle Duguay, 40, have a 6-year-old child who they often brought with them to distract store employees while they stole the merchandise, detectives said.
The other team was made up of five people, according to the Sheriff's Office. That team was more prolific, stealing more than $800,000 worth of drills, Chitwood said.
The suspects making up that team were Paul Paradis, 55, and Jason Paradis, 32, who are father and son; Steven Proctor, 32, and Amelia LaPallo, 24, who are boyfriend and girlfriend; and Austin Kalaczynski, 31.
"The family that steals together stays together," Chitwood said, referring to Paul and Jason Paradis.
When detectives confronted Hill, he denied knowing the drills were stolen, according to the Sheriff's Office.
"That's what they all say," Chitwood said.
Deputies showed two vans filled with DeWALT boxes containing the power drills. At least one of the vans also contained a DeWALT power washer.
Detectives said they only investigated Home Depot stores in Volusia. On Thursday, they were searching Hall's store to see what other stolen items may be getting sold on eBay in addition to the drills.
"Imagine the other things that are coming into this pawn shop that we don't know about," Chitwood said.
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