The number of retail theft cases continued to rise in Luzerne County and across the state last year following several years of decline, according to numbers recently released by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
Luzerne County saw 887 shoplifting cases filed last year, up from 756 in 2022 — an increase of over 17%. The increase comes on the heels of a nearly 33% spike between 2021, which had 570 cases, and 2022.
The 570 cases in 2021 was a five-year low for the county, down from 1,057 cases in 2019.
Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce attributed the resurging numbers to a combination of factors ranging from the opioid epidemic to economic hardships.
“Some (cases are) certainly due to opioid and other drug addiction,” Sanguedolce said. “The rise in theft of all kinds parallels the addiction issue. Similarly, bad economic conditions tend to cause us to see increased thefts.”
Statewide, the number of retail theft cases during the five-year period increased from a low of 24,855 cases in 2021 to 37,962 cases last year — a nearly 53% spike.
The top counties for retail theft were Allegheny with 13% of cases, Montgomery with 9%, Philadelphia with 6%, and with 5% each Delaware, Erie and Bucks.
Luzerne County, which represented about 2.5% of the total cases statewide, did not place in the top 10.
According to numbers released in October by Capital One Financial Corp., theft cost Pennsylvania retailers $2.937 billion in revenue in 2022.
The state of Pennsylvania also lost out on $176 million in retail sales tax as a result of theft, according to the numbers.
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