Authorities said Friday that a retired sheriff’s deputy dressed as a guest at two Phoenix-area weddings to take boxes of cards carrying thousands of dollars and is being investigated in a string of similar crimes, according WSAZ.
According to Chandler authorities and court and jail records, Landon Earl Rankin, 54, was arrested Wednesday in the April thefts at private venues and was being detained without bond.
The two stolen boxes of wedding presents contained between $3,000 and $6,000, according to authorities.
Rankin worked as a deputy in the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office since 1994. He retired in 2015 but continued to serve as a reserve officer until 2017, according to office spokesperson Lauren Reimer.
Rankin was arrested and charged with two counts of burglary. He was also charged with various drug possession and drug paraphernalia counts after police discovered amphetamine and fentanyl on him.
There was no attorney listed in court documents who could speak on his behalf.
According to a probable-cause statement, security footage from one of the Chandler wedding venues showed Rankin grabbing the present box, throwing it in a bag, walking out the venue’s back door, sprinting to his vehicle, and speeding away.
When questioned by police, Rankin stated that he went to the weddings to hear the nuptials “because he was going through a divorce,” according to the statement.
During their investigation into the two Chandler thefts, investigators discovered at least seven comparable offenses in other Phoenix-area municipalities, according to Chandler police spokesperson Sgt. Jason McClimans.
Rankin is now being investigated in those cases, and Chandler police have received information from “four or five” additional wedding couple about probable additional thefts, according to McClimans.
Victims of such crimes were asked to contact appropriate law enforcement organizations, according to police.
