A Hudson man repeatedly filled three children's backpacks with groceries and sent them out to a waiting vehicle, authorities say.
By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer
Published October 23, 2005
HUDSON - Here's how it worked, authorities say: The four entered the grocery store as a team. They wore the backpacks. Peter Riotis did the stuffing, packing their bags with the store's food. Then they'd be sent to a waiting vehicle outside.
There, the backpacks were emptied. Then they'd be sent back into the store to do it again.
Riotis, 43, was the alleged ringleader.
The ages of his alleged accomplices: 6, 10 and 12.
The Hudson man used the children to shoplift food, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, and Friday he was cited for retail petty theft and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Riotis apologized and offered to pay for all the items, the report said. Instead, he was handcuffed and taken out of the store.
But when deputies tried to put Riotis into the back seat of the sheriff's cruiser, they had a problem: He's 5 feet 8 inches, 470 pounds, the report said.
"As he was morbidly obese he would not fit through the door," wrote Deputy John Ardolino, "he was ordered to sit on the edge of the seat with his legs outside the car."
Riotis was read his rights, questioned, cited on the criminal charges, ordered to stay away from the store and released. Riotis will have to answer the charges in court at a later date. He admitted to using the children to steal, according to the deputy. An abuse report was also filed with the Florida Abuse Registry, and the case was referred to the State Attorney's Office.
The identities of the children - a 6-year-old boy and girls ages 10 and 12 - and their relationship to Riotis were not released by the Sheriff's Office.
The store's assistant manager accused Riotis of pulling the same scam on Oct. 7 and Tuesday, and showed videotapes of the alleged incidents to a sheriff's deputy. Then Friday about 6:44 p.m., Riotis brought the children back to the same Hudson Save-A-Lot on U.S. 19, the report said.
A deputy stopped two of the children leaving the store, the report said, and the manager said they had already emptied their backpacks once.
The deputy saw food items on the floor of Riotis' van, the report said, including $49 worth of beef, $17 of cheese, $12 of chicken, corned beef hash and Goya sauce. The total amount reported stolen: $93.98.
Riotis, of 15304 Mornay Dr., declined to comment when reached at home Saturday.
