Wyoming committee asks staff to draft theft bills, seeks new crime for intercounty flight amid rise in organized retail crime

The Joint Judiciary Committee on Wednesday asked legislative staff to draft changes to Wyoming theft law and to create a new criminal offense for fleeing across county lines after witnesses told the committee organized retail crime is growing and becoming more violent.

Retailers, law enforcement and business groups told the committee the state needs stronger tools to investigate and prosecute repeat and organized shoplifting rings that travel through Wyoming and resell stolen goods.

Testifying for the business community, Dale Steenburgen, president and CEO of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and CEO of the Wyoming Chamber of Commerce, described repeat and coordinated thefts that he said are shifting from opportunistic shoplifting to “organized retail crime.” “When more than one person gets together to do this and go out and access, that's organized retail crime,” Steenburgen said, describing teams that “case” stores, steal high-value items and resell them online.

Law-enforcement…