A ring of thieves is going around the Twin Cities stealing credit-card readers from counters, Brooklyn Park police officials said Wednesday.
Deputy Chief Mark Bruley said Maddie's Liquor and the Brunswick Zone in Brooklyn Park were victimized by recent thefts, while an attempt was made at a gas station on Zane Avenue N.
The suspects allegedly use the machines to give themselves refunds and to transfer money to their own credit cards.
They stole about $200,000 from the Brunswick Zone after taking three credit-card readers, Bruley said. The Brunswick Zone corporate office did not return a call for comment Wednesday.
The suspects also stole $16,000 from Maddie's Liquor in one day. Store officials could not be reached for comment.
Bruley said he does not know how many other businesses in the Twin Cities area might have been hit by similar thefts recently, but a variety of other agencies are involved in the investigation.
He said authorities have a number of suspects in these cases and had planned to release new information Wednesday, but due to the "complexity of the case," no new information was available.
Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647
