Last month, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office reported a significant bust in Cupertino involving a suspected serial liquor thief. Karen Mackey, 53, of Oakland, was apprehended with 71 bottles of pilfered tequila, collectively valued at over $3,000. The stash was discovered when Deputy Din and Deputy Perez conducted a traffic stop on Bollinger Road, according to a post on the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office's social media.
Mackey was already on law enforcement's radar with a $25,000 warrant for grand theft. The Sheriff's Office swiftly connected her to a spree of thefts across several Safeway grocery stores in Santa Clara County. During the traffic stop, a records check revealed the outstanding warrant for Mackey, and she was subsequently booked into the Main Jail on this warrant, as well as for theft with prior convictions. Deputies managed to recover and return all of the stolen alcohol to the local Safeway stores from where they were originally taken.
"She tried to take the party to-go, but our deputies brought it to a full stop," the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office stated, emphasizing the end of Mackey's alleged string of thefts.
