♪ >> this is "nightline". tonight, stealing spree inside the alarming rise of organized retail crime. >> they know exactly what stores to hit. >> the dangerous and sometimes deadly consequences. >> your dad was essentially killed over three power washers. >> you can't imagine that any piece of equipment in home depot is worth a life. >> who is behind the surge? >> crime sinned indicates could be tied to local gang networks. >> and the extraordinary

measures major retailers are taking. plus nba tipoff, game one of the nba finals tmatch-up between the miami heath and denver nuggets. >> they don't like each other. >> jimmy butler and nicole jokic the super stars leading their teams. >> we're in the griped every day. >> both hoping to hoist the championship trophy. >> and moving out. >> i'm moving out ♪ >> big news from the piano man billy joel. >> "nightline" will be right back. ♪ are you looking at 4x4s on cars.com again? no. whenever you look at 4x4s, you turn into the version of yourself that drives a 4x4. i honestly don't know what you're talking about. really? really. i was thinking of something more sophisticated. ahh! fine, keep the beard.

(laugh) 2 million cars for 2 million possibilities. cars.com where to next? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you can beat it! ♪ visit youcanbeatit.org or call 833-422-4255 to ask for medication to treat covid-19.

♪ >> thanks for joining us, we begin tonight with breaking news from capitol hill. >> the bill is passed. >> the senate passing the debt ceiling deal allowing the country to keep paying its bills and preventing a catastrophic and historic default. the bill now heading to president biden's desk for his expected signature ending a week's long drama amid tense negotiations >> and we turn now to our investigation into the organized thefts plaguing retail stores across the country. you've seen the brazen videos, some turning dangerous even deadly. tonight we have rare access to the home depot's response and the lengths the giant change is

taking to combat this trilogy helped. here's abc's aerial. >> reporter: you've seen the videos of brazen smash and grabs like these often carried out in broad daylight. >> it's an absolute threat. >> reporter: a chicago area louis vuitton raided by 14 hooded suspects making off with over $100,000 worth of luxury items. a flash mob style heist at an oakland area nordstrom. this new york jewelry store, windows smashed in with hammers. federal authorities and retailers are now sounding the alarm about the growing danger of organized retail crime that is sweeping the country. >> they know exactly what stores to hit, what businesses and residents to hit and when and when. >> reporter: coordinated groups are starring stores millions of dollars worth of goods retailers say they're growing more violent putting shoppers and workers at risk sometimes with tragic consequences. >> what goes through your mind when you realize that your dad

was essentially killed over three power washers? >> you can't imagine that any piece of equipment in home depot is worth alive. >> reporter: when you saw the video of what happened to your dad, what was going through your mind? >> wish it would have been me. >> reporter: authorities say organized retail crime is large-scale theft of mostly high value items from handbags to power tools, which are often then illegally resold online on sites like amazon, ebay, facebook marketplace or craig's list. amazon, ebay and facebook prohibit the sale of stolen goods on their site and have said they take measures to help ensure that. >> they're very much organized in the sense they're doing it for the profit. obviously the profitability is the key here. >> reporter: companies say this type of crime is reaching unprecedented levels jumping more than 26% in 2021 and forcing the average family to pay an estimated $500 more each year on goods. >> it's growing double digit

year over year. >> this is professional shoplifting. >> 100%. >> reporter: big box stores like the home depot have been hit especially hard. they tell us they're investing hundreds of cases this past year alone and losing billions. the retail giant opening up to abc news showing us exactly what's being targeted. >> you have a special name for this part of the store. >> yeah, this is what we refer to as our billion dollars aisles, billions and billions of dollars worth of sales and about a third of our losses from theft and fraud come from power tools. >> thieves are taking anything from leaf blowers to metal wire. >> how much is a spool like that. >> a full spool a thousand dollars to upward of $3,500. >> reporter: in april 3rd people were arrested in connection with an organized retail crime operationally that allegedly targeted california home deep os. authorities recovering $75,000 worth of stolen goods. >> why do you believe that you've seen such an uptick.

>> covid aside and the pandemic aside which kind of emboldened some people wearing masks, the online proliferation. 90% of our organized retail crime cases involve some type of online. opioid and fentanyl needing fast cash. >> homeland security officials say the organizations have suspected ties to drug trafficking. >> there are crime syndicates that could be tied to local gang networks that maybe have established networks from the columbus bee and/or eastern european that can comfortable in certain cities. >> reporter: according to the company, this one crew robbed various stores more than 20 times allegedly stealing a total of $135,000 in merchandise. at least two of them have since been arrested order robbery and larceny charges. their cases are pending. >> we are looking at these folks who do this for a living, impact us on a regular basis and building large multistate

jurisdictional cases against these sglups another alleged repeat offender this delaware woman, ayanna who authorities say has been on an organized retail crime spree for years. in february, she was caught on surveillance allegedly stealing two espresso machines worth nearly $2,000 from a new jersey bed bath and beyond. and then, here she is again at a nearby home depot a week later raising a hammer at a home depot employee who tried to stop her. authorities charged her with shoplifting and robbery with a deadly weapon but the case is pending. they say she has raked in thousands pawning goods. >> why do you believe organized criminals are targeting home depot? >> i don't think that any of the organized criminals that are out there are just coming to home depot. i think they're going to wherever they think today they can get what they're looking for to be able to sell quickly. >> reporter: in some cases employees fight back. this family owned jewelry store in huntington beach california said they were targeted by

thieves last year. >> this is our family business. we wanted to protect it. i guess protecting what's ours. >> reporter: but many larger retailers do not want their employees to intervene. lululemon recently fired two employees for chasing alleged robbers as seen in this video. >> no, no. >> get out. get out. >> reporter: the company saying in a statement the two women were fired for knowingly violating our zero tolerance policy related to physically engaging with the perpetrators, which put their lives and the safety of our guests and other employees at risk. our people's safety is our number one priority. home depot also tells its employees not to stop robberies in progress warning of the dangers. >> it seems almost like a catch 22. that you want to keep your employees safe but at the end of the day these criminals probably know that the employees are limited in their capacity to stop it. >> there's a little of that but the safety of our employees and customers comes first, 100% and what the consequences financially are are the

secondary consideration for us. >> reporter: still, two employees have been killed allegedly by thieves at home depot stores. >> shots fired at the home depot on johnson drive. >> reporter: in april 26th year old blake was fatally shot while he was trying to stop a theft at a california store. two people were arrested on murder charges. and in october, police say 82-year-old gary razor, nicknamed grandpa gary by his home depot co-workers was pushed by an assailant allegedly trying to steal three power washers at a hillsboro north carolina location and later died. >> he loving working at home depot because he was invested in the people and the customer, you know, the workers. >> reporter: jeff razor said he never dreamed his father's job could put him in danger. >> at his funeral service, we had to have two of them because the entire home depot staff and

workers from the, you know, manager to the person that just hired in a week ago wanteded to come. >> reporter: does it surprise you that he would have tried to step in to stop a theft. >> doesn't surprise me at all. wasn't like he was going to tackle the guy, right. >> reporter: he was just asking for a receipt. >> reporter:? january police arrested the 26 year old man they say pushed gary razor. he is charged with robbery and first degree murder. he is being held without bail. >> reporter: what was taken from you. >> time. you know, all we have is time. that time that we had planned to spend with my dad, now that's just not going to be. so time. >> reporter: home depot says gary's story is driving urgency to stop the problem but they acknowledge they can't do it alone. >> there are certain parts of certain states that have taken it very seriously. but there's other pockets of the country where this problem still is not taken seriously day in and day out. >> reporter: do you believe that there should be tougher

penalties for those who are behind these crimes? >> absolutely. i think that especially at the higher levels of these organizations, these people are using, you know, i'll call it some disadvantaged folks in some cases, homeless population, people drug addicted in many cases, to go into these stores and be the pawns and actually put themselves at risk to do this. >> reporter: with losses growing, the retail industry and law enforcement are looking for solutions, congress already passed the inform act which requires online marketplace toss collect and disclose more information on the goods they sell but retailers want them to do more and pass the combatting retail crime act creating coordinated multiagency response to retail theft. >> these bills will help to establish a center for organized retail crime under the department of homeland security. to share information and to work investigatively to detect disrupt and dismantle these organized groups.

>> home depot says it's had no choice but to lock up some of its most valued items a move they say is frustrating but necessary. >> is it common we would see these things behind bars? >> in a perfect world this is no. what we want to do we want to be completely open to our customers but unfortunately this is the product targeted most frequently. >> reporter: the company is also working to make more of its products trackable adding monitors as a deterrent, alarmed gates to prevent carts from leaving and installing more cameras to keep track of shoppers. but for gary razor's family, nothing can undo the loss. his death a warning that these crimes are destroying lives. what do you want people to hear about your father's story? >> i would like very much for people to understand that my dad would want, right, people to focus on this and say, we've finally gone too far.

>> juju: our thanks to ariel. coming up nba tipoff, game one of the nba finals, how both teams are looking to make history. ♪ type 2 diabetes? discover the power of 3 in the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ (oh, oh, oh, ozempic®!) ♪ in my ozempic® tri-zone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. ozempic® provides powerful a1c reduction. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. and you may lose weight. adults lost up to 14 pounds. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis.

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♪ >> juju: and now to the epic match-up in the nba finals. denver nuggets taking game one, and two of the league's best players squaring off. their surprising and inspiring journeys to super stardom. abc's will reeve at the game tonight in denver. >> it's over! it's over! >> reporter: it's the moment that sealed the deal. >> denver makes history, the nuggets are going to the nba

finals for the first time in franchise history. >> reporter: denver nuggets clinching the western conference crown. >> we are not the favorites, i think in the finals there is no favorites. >> we stand eye to eye with history and they did not blink. >> reporter: the miami heat punching their tickets to the finals as the first ate seed in 24 years to play for an nba title. >> we're in the grind every single day. >> if you want to see a really competitive series of two teams that do not like each other, denver nuggets and miami heat is your series. >> jokic oh no. >> these are two teams that almost got into a brawl less than two years ago following the game. >> each team led by a star player who couldn't be more different. for the nuggets it's nearly seven foot tall 28 year old center nicoley jokic. >> this unknown kid from a war-torn part of europe shows up and shocks everyone by becoming this unforeseen force of just skill and talent. >> the serbian nicknamed the

joker has gone from a relative unknown to a five-time all star and two-time league mvp. >> nikolai jokic was a curiosity to a lot of teams and denver nuggets too took a chance on him and it took him a long time to catch up to the conditioning to keep up with the pace of the nba but i don't think anybody can look at nikolai co-kiffin now and consider him soft or wonder if he can hang in the lead. >> off the court jokic prioritizes his family. >> basketball is not the main thing in my life and probably never going to be. i like it because they have something more at home that is more important than basketball. >> reporter: and while jokic's lumbering dominance has earned him praise. >> what is the key to slowing jokic. >> guarding him as a team with all five guys. you know, he does everything so well. >> reporter: that's a tall order for the miami heat and super star jimmy butler, the mvp of the eastern conference finals. >> i would like to say that i'm

never rattled, i'm very calm, very consistent. >> jimmy likes a taste of blood, and if it doesn't show up on its own he'll bite you so there is blood. one of the reason why jimmy butler is who he is, his play is why he has all the nicknames. >> those include jimmy buckets and playoff jimmy. >> are you unbelievable in the playoffs. why do you think that is? >> because i play spades before every game and i'm really good at it. i play domino's a lot. i drink some wine, i talk to my friends and i'm as normal as a human being as you'll probably see around so it just lets me go out there and be like free mind and just play. >> butler's high school coach brad ball saw butler' potential early on. >> i think because of the love of the game he was constantly working to be the best player he could possibly be and i think it was just that drive that really helped him stand out. he a he probably the smartest guy in the room, he figures things out really, really

quickly. he figures out how to be the most valuable he can be on the floor, just a terrely high basketball iq. >> because ball says more than anything butler hates to lose. >> winning is most important thing on a team. and i think he embraces his teammates and make them better. they all look like they love playing with him and that's a quality that not all super stars have. >> that drive inspiring new generations of players. >> i know jimmy wasn't like a high-recruited guy and it inspired me to keep working harder and maybe get there like that one day. >> always play hard no matter what even if things aren't going well for you. >> butler's own childhood was challenging getting kicked out of his family's home as a teen and couch hopping until a mother of a class made welcomed him in. >> i knew he was out of the house as a senior and i knew he was staying with different people over the course of that year. but he never really brought those things to school or

practice. >> today butler credits that mom, michelle lambert and their family. >> the entire family's a huge part of it, also my people and a lot of the stuff i do is also for them. so i am over the top grateful for that family. >> his journey has some parallels from the movie the blind side where a homeless teen is taken in by a tennessee value and later goes to play in the have in. >> when you think of him you think of me how you have my back. >> butler still has a relationship with his biological parents but remains foe cuffed. >> were there moments in the journey where you thought you weren't going to make it. >> without a doubt. self doubt sunk in many times but i always fought back, be around your people because they'll let you know who you are no matter what. >> now the stars will give it their all in this best-of-7 series. >> they don't like each other. and you don't have to follow the league in order to enjoy the

tension hooping between these two teams every single time they get up on the floor. >> it's going to be me or against me or anybody against anybody, it's going to be miami against denver and i think that's why it's interesting. >> i love to have fun and i love to compete. more than anything i love to win. >> juju: our thanks to will. and you can catch game 2 this sunday night right here on coming up, moving out! billy joel's next big move. ♪ narrator: the man with the troublesome hemorrhoid enters the room. phil: excuse me? hillary: that wasn't me. narrator: said hillary, who's only taken 347 steps today. and you can catch game 2 this hillary: i cycled here. narrator: speaking of cycles, mary's period

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♪ >> juju: and, finally tonight, billy joel is quite literally moving out. ♪ i haven't been there for the longest time ♪ ♪ . >> juju: he's been playing at new york city's madison square garden for the longest time now ending his decade long and sold-out run ♪ sing us the song you're the piano man >> juju: fans have until july 2024 to catch the piano man, it will mark his 104th show in the series and 150th at the garden. and that's "nightline". you can watch all of our full