Crime & Public Safety.
A Philadelphia Instacart shopper is accused of stealing nearly $2,000 of the supplement turmeric from Costco in Warminster Township.
Sukhrob Salaydin Ochilov aka Ochlov Surror, 22, of the 13000 block of Townsend Road, was charged by Warminster authorities March 1 with felony counts of retail theft and receiving stolen property, according to court records.
On March 1 at 2 p.m., Costco detained Ochilov in their 100 Veterans Way store and contacted Warminster Police, who needed a translator from the Bucks County radio room to communicate with the defendant, according to the affidavit.
Authorities allege Ochilov, a known Instacart shopper, walked throughout the Costco Warehouse, purchased a cart full of items, and then left the cart in an area by an empty register.
After he left the cart, he re-entered the retail area and walked over to the pharmacy, police said.
Costco asset protection officers walked over to the pharmacy, where they found two boxes of turmeric missing, police said. Then, they walked over to Aisle 303, where they found a Bagel Bites brand box, along with two empty turmeric boxes, per the affidavit.
Asset protection looked inside the Bagel Bites box and found the missing turmeric stacked inside, police said. The asset protection officer left the boxes where they found them and watched from a distance.
Shortly after, Ochilov allegedly returned to the aisle, looked around, walked over to the produce aera, where he grabbed two empty boxes, and then returned to the aisle once again, where he took the Bagel Bites box.
Police said he covered the box with the empty box from the produce department, walked past asset protection, walked through an open register, walked to his cart of previously-purchased items, and covered the Bagel Bites box with more empty boxes, attempting to conceal the turmeric.
Ochilov was stopped in the vestibule by asset protection and management and asked about the turmeric, police said. He was unable to produce a receipt and the turmeric was found hidden in the Bagel Bites box, totaling $1,199.70, police said.
Ochilov remains jailed on 10% of $50,000 cash bail, according to Bucks County court records. A preliminary hearing is set for March 31 at 1:30 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge Christopher E. O’Neill.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
