A Nashville man now faces 33 shoplifting counts after arrest paperwork accused him of running a retail-theft operation that zeroed in on Home Depot stores across the city. Authorities say the ring focused on power tools, with stolen merchandise totaling $28,558, and that the group used online listings and pawn shops to move the goods.
Arrest records outline the alleged operation
According to police documents, arrest warrants identify 25-year-old Charles Lindsey and state the thefts took place between Jan. 13 and May 18. While he was in custody in Brentwood, Lindsey allegedly directed his girlfriend, 40-year-old Emily Gilbert, along with another woman, to steal tools from Home Depot stores. Arrest records say Gilbert admitted to the thefts and told investigators she took the items to pawn shops around Nashville. Lindsey is charged with 33 counts, including an organized retail crime supervisor count, and police say he listed stolen tools for sale on Facebook, as reported by FOX17.
How police say cases are pieced together
Detectives with Metro Nashville's Organized Retail Crime unit typically pull together surveillance footage, receipts, and resale data to link thefts across multiple locations and build up total loss figures that can support felony charges. The unit has been active in recent years, and local reporting noted the ORC team made 265 arrests in 2025 as part of a broader crackdown on serial shoplifting. That collaboration between detectives and store loss-prevention staff, combined with tracking pawn-shop activity and online sales, is what investigators say helps them spot repeat offenders and alleged supervisors, according to WSMV.
What the charges mean under Tennessee law
The organized-retail-crime counts Lindsey faces fall under Tennessee's Organized Retail Crime Prevention Act and are prosecuted under the state's theft statutes, which allow prosecutors to combine multiple incidents when deciding how to grade the charges. Under TCA §39-14-113, acting with others to steal more than $1,000 in merchandise, aggregated over a 90-day period, can lead to an organized-retail-crime prosecution. The statute also allows for higher grading if a defendant is found to have exercised supervisory authority over others. How prosecutors group the alleged thefts, and whether they seek enhanced penalties for a supervisory role, will shape what Lindsey ultimately confronts in court. For the statute text and recent amendments, see the Tennessee General Assembly.
Where this case fits locally
The Lindsey case joins a string of Nashville investigations into repeat shoplifting suspects accused of moving stolen merchandise through pawn shops and online marketplaces, highlighting a wider push by police and retailers to disrupt those resale channels. Metro Nashville Police Department press updates and past cases describe investigators tracking suspects across multiple stores and working with partners to trace and recover stolen property. For background on similar local cases and the ORC unit's work, see Metro Nashville Government reporting.
