Home Depot theft ring bust in Florida nets 14 arrests, $7 million haul

A Lutz home turned into a fake hardware store became the center of what Hillsborough County deputies say was a sprawling theft network that pushed stolen Home Depot merchandise through online sales, refund fraud and false invoices. Fourteen people were arrested, and investigators say the ring’s scale, not just the arrests, is what should matter to store associates and managers: more shrink pressure, more suspicious buyers, more locked-up inventory and more scrutiny on returns and delivery paperwork.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation, called Operation D-Fence, began in November 2025 after a tip about a possible fencing location. Search warrants were executed on May 4, 2026, at a home in Lutz that detectives say served as the central hub. Inside, stolen merchandise was stacked floor-to-ceiling in the garage, arranged like a makeshift hardware store. Authorities seized about $5 million in stolen goods, about $220,000 in U.S. currency and seven vehicles tied to the enterprise.

Detectives say the group moved through more than 1,800 online sales transactions over the past year and generated about $7 million in proceeds. Later, officials put the group’s total criminal activity at at least $12 million once additional sales and losses were counted. The alleged leader, Hoover Rengifo, 55, is accused of running the operation through Save on Construction LLC with family members, including his wife, two sons and nephews.

The thefts stretched across Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee and hit 33 hardware stores. Law enforcement says the ring targeted appliances, tools, electrical supplies, construction materials, fixtures and hardware, and used false invoices, refund fraud and theft from construction-site storage containers to feed the pipeline. Four suspects were identified as being in the country illegally and now face ICE detainers.

At least one undercover phase involved Home Depot directly. Investigators say they worked with the company and sold electrical panels and generators to confirm the suspects understood the goods were stolen. That detail is likely to resonate on the sales floor and in receiving, where associates already deal with bulk orders, pro customers and paperwork checks that can be easy to rush when traffic is heavy.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister cast the case as part of a broader crackdown on organized retail theft. Uthmeier’s office launched a Retail Theft Investigative Special Task Force in November 2025, and Chronister said the case was not opportunistic shoplifting but a highly organized criminal enterprise operating across state lines. For Home Depot workers, the bust signals a retail-theft fight that is moving beyond the front end and deeper into inventory control, vendor verification and the daily job of spotting when a transaction does not add up.