Pittsburgh man charged in $25,000 regional theft scheme at Lowe's stores

A Pittsburgh man was arrested Thursday in connection with what state police described as an organized retail theft scheme involving $24,800 worth of merchandise from Lowe’s stores in Westmoreland, Butler and Allegheny counties.

Jesus A. Serna-Real, 38, of the city’s Knoxville neighborhood, is accused in a number of retail thefts at the home improvement chain, including the most recent one on Feb. 22 in Rostraver, according to court papers.

In that incident, Serna-Real is accused of taking several items to the cash register and providing the cashier with a fraudulent credit card number over the phone, police said. Rostraver police took him into custody after he left the store with the stolen items and learned he had arrest warrants for similar thefts in Robinson, West Mifflin and Cranberry, according to court papers.

Township police handed the investigation over to state police. A trooper worked with an organized retail crime manager at Lowe’s to track $24,800 worth of merchandise investigators said Serna-Real is responsible for stealing between June 2022 and February.

He already had been charged in connection with seven of the cases. The others reportedly happened at stores in Bethel Park, the Waterfront and McCandless, according to court papers.

Police said they found images of Lowe’s receipts on Serna-Real’s phone that matched documentation provided by the store official. Serna-Real claimed in an interview with police that he got a list of items needed by contractors and then would go to Lowe’s stores to get the supplies before calling a number he found on Facebook at the checkout register. The person who answered the call would give a fraudulent number to a cashier and he’d leave with the items, according to court papers.

Serna-Real told authorities he sent pictures of receipts to the person he called while selling the stolen items to local contractors for a discount. Those funds would be sent to someone in the Dominican Republic, according to court papers.

Serna-Real is charged with conspiracy, organized retail theft, corrupt organizations, access device fraud and related offenses. He was being held at the Westmoreland County Prison on $100,000 bail. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A May 20 preliminary hearing is set.