WARSAW — An Elkhart man has been apprehended 10 months after he stole alcohol from the local Warsaw Walmart and Meijer and has been found to have used the same routine to steal from 46 other Meijer locations.

Jeremy Michael Sandusky, 41, 29861 Oregon Ave., Elkhart, has been charged with corrupt business influence, a level 5 felony; theft with a sentence enhancement, a level 6 felony; and attempted theft with a sentence enhancement, a level 6 felony.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed in September 2016, on July 30, 2016, officers with the Warsaw Police Department responded to a theft from Walmart when they received a call for an attempted theft from Meijer.

Walmart Loss Prevention advised officers that two males subjects entered the store and obtained two hand baskets before proceeding to the alcohol aisle. The two males then placed seven bottles of alcohol valued at $251.01 into the baskets and fled the store in a red Dodge Neon.

Meijer Loss Prevention advised officers that two male subjects selected $440.84 worth of alcohol and placed them into hand baskets before proceeding toward the exit. They were stopped by a greeter and set the baskets down before fleeing in the red Dodge Neon.

According to the affidavit, Meijer Loss Prevention informed officers that the subjects seen on surveillance were the same subjects he had seen in a company released bulletin referencing thefts from stores in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. One of the males was identified as Sandusky. Sandusky and the other subject had used the same method to steal from 46 Meijer locations from July through September 2016.

On Sept. 8, 2016, Michigan State Police arrested Sandusky and the other subject for stealing alcohol from a Meijer store. At that time the two admitted to the Kosciusko County theft.

Sandusky was booked into Kosciusko County Jail on May 23 and held on $11,500 surety and cash bond.