TULSA, Okla. — A former UPS employee is accused of posing as a delivery driver to steal thousands of dollars in merchandise from a Tulsa Best Buy.
According to Tulsa Police, employees at the Best Buy near 71st Street and Highway 169 reported that a man dressed as a UPS driver had been making unauthorized pickups from the store.
Police said the man arrived at the store’s back entrance in a pickup truck and, while dressed as a UPS employee, was allowed into the back room. He allegedly collected packages from the shipping area that were intended for delivery to customers, loaded them into his truck and drove away.
Investigators said the scheme was repeated multiple times before store management became suspicious. Thousands of dollars worth of merchandise was reportedly taken.
On August 28, the same man allegedly returned to the store but employees refused to let him inside and shut the door. He then drove away.
The Tulsa Police Department’s Mingo Valley Street Crimes Unit began investigating and used Automatic License Plate Readers to identify and locate the pickup truck believed to have been used in the thefts.
On September 3 at approximately 1:30 p.m., officers spotted the truck outside a pawn shop near 31st Street and Sheridan Road. Police said officers arrived as 45-year-old Tawaun Scott was getting into the truck to leave and took him into custody following a traffic stop.
According to police, Scott matched surveillance images from the Best Buy and was found with a UPS identification badge in his wallet.
Investigators later learned Scott had previously worked for UPS but was fired last year. Police said he had not returned his company identification or uniform after his employment ended.
Scott was booked into the Tulsa County Jail on complaints of Second-Degree Attempted Burglary and Obtaining Property Under False Pretenses.
This is an arrest, not a conviction. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
