PORTLAND, Ore. -- The donations you think are going to people in need may just be lining the pockets of thieves. The On Your Side Investigators went undercover and caught people swiping donations from a local charity.



"Well, certainly disappointing. It's disappointing to see," said Bob Barsocchini, general counsel for Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette.



Barsocchini is also the director of human resources and loss control for the regional chain, which includes 50 stores and 119 donation sites across northwest Oregon, central Oregon and southwest Washington -- the largest Goodwill retailer in North America.



With Barsocchini's permission, we set up a sting operation at the Goodwill located on Southeast 6th Avenue in Portland.



KATU filled the back of a car with donated goods that included clothing, bags, toys and other odds and ends (no jewelry or technology).

We dropped off the donations after-hours, around 11 p.m. on a Friday. We made sure to set the items on Goodwill's property since, at that hour, the donation gates were closed and there were no drop-off bins readily available.



"It's our position that anything left adjacent to our donation sites, adjacent to our buildings, is Goodwill property," Barsocchini said.



Then we waited.



In about an hour, a man made a beeline for the donations on, of all things, a knee scooter. He appeared to be wearing a boot on his right foot. He didn't waste any time looking through the bags and bins. Instead, he appeared so desperate for the goods, he grabbed as much as he could hold and took off.



He was clearly injured, so if you watch the video carefully, you can see he limped away.



He then appeared to duck inside a nearby home.



Then another man walked up, took the last of the donations and fast-walked in the same direction as the first man. We drove around the neighborhood to find them, but the grinches were gone.



The people who steal from charities range from people who "need things" to those who "want to re-sell them as quickly as possible," Barsocchini said. "Then again, it's maybe people who steal for the thrill of it or because they can."



Goodwill isn't the only charity thieves are targeting.



"There are a lot of people out there in need, but there are a lot of people out there as well who take advantage of organizations such as ours," said Salvation Army Captain Dennis Earnhart. "It's disappointing that people would steal from a charity that helps so many people."



Earnhart keeps track of every crime at his six stores and 42 donation sites across the Portland-metro area.



"We have had, in the last two years, more than 90 break-ins," he said



Most recently, police said Matthew Raymond Moore cut through a Salvation Army chain-link fence, in the middle of the night, to steal batteries out of the charity's truck.



According to a probable cause affidavit, police were called to the parking lot in the 6800 block of Northeast 82nd Avenue in Portland. Witnesses reported suspicious people in the lot.



Court records show police yelled at Moore to stop, but he ran away. During the chase, officers saw a second man. Records show, Moore eventually stopped running and police arrested him.



Police found eight vehicle batteries that had been taken out of the Salvation Army trucks, court documents state.



The total value of the batteries that would have been taken was estimated at $1,400, court documents state.



"We'll do everything we can to prevent it from happening"

To curb crime, Barsocchini points to a robust surveillance system that he said includes hundreds of cameras as well as a rotation of security guards.

The guards include both uniformed and plain-clothed employees who monitor inside the stores as well as check perimeters outside the stores five to seven days a week. The retailer also contracts out with a private security company for added surveillance.



"We take it with the utmost seriousness," Barsocchini said. "We feel almost as if we have a fiduciary responsibility to the donors to safeguard the donations."



Goodwill works closely with police and together, he said, they sometimes set up what he calls "suppression operations," or stings, to catch suspected thieves red-handed.



In addition, Barsocchini said the managers and supervisors in the loss control department receive security training. Plus, all employees are encouraged to call a 1-800 tip line if they see suspicious activity or theft.



At drop-off locations, there are often signs that say, "Stealing from this donation site is a crime!"



"It puts people on notice that this is a bad idea," Barsocchini said.



Barsocchini also said that employees also monitor donation sites after-hours to guard donations, but they can't catch everything.



"It's just simply not feasible coming by every hour, every site, all night to see what happened," Barsocchini said. But he added, "We'll do everything we can to prevent it from happening."



Earnhart stayed mum about Salvation Army's security but said his non-profit also relies on an undisclosed number of surveillance cameras.



"Donations are the lifeblood of the organization"

By the end of this year, Goodwill expects to receive more than 195 million pounds of donations. That amounts to 7.3 million transactions across Goodwill stores within the Columbia-Willamette region.



"It's all through the sale of donations that we support the organization," Barsocchini said.

Barsocchini said Goodwill does not receive government funding, money from fundraising or grants.



When donations are swiped, they never make it to the people who need them.



See, once the donations are processed and set in stores, the sales from those donations pay for the non-profits' programs and services.



"We spend a lot of money acquiring donations, processing them, paying people to staff the sites, trucking the donations around, sorting them, pricing them, paying cashiers to sell them," Barsocchini said.



At both charities, donations pay for a broad array of social services.



At Goodwill, that ranges from job opportunities for those who are disabled or re-entering the workforce to independent living programs, to name a few examples.



"The mission of Goodwill is to provide vocational opportunities to people with barriers and we define barriers in a number of ways," Barsocchini said. "It can include people who don't speak English as a first language, somebody with a physical or cognitive impairment, somebody who has not been in the workforce - there's a variety of barriers."



At the Salvation Army, services range from providing food for the hungry, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless, job training and rehabilitation for adults struggling with addiction.



"We don't get government funds, we don't get agency funds, we totally depend on the material goods that are donated," Earnhart said.



Prosecuting Suspected Criminals

The On Your Side Investigators is turning over the raw video of the men swiping the donations to the Portland Police Bureau. Barsocchini said he's still gathering information to see if there's enough evidence to press charges against the men. If police are able to track down the suspects, Barsocchini said he would likely pursue prosecution.



Other thefts have made headlines at the same Goodwill.



According to the KATU archives, in 2001 Goodwill driver Jason Baca was caught taking donated items to his home in Cornelius rather than the retail store. Baca stole 11 big screen TVs, hundreds of shoes, thousands of video games and other electronics.



In fact, he swiped so many donations from the charity, it took a tractor-trailer rig to haul away the evidence.



Baca later pleaded guilty and, in 2012, a judge sentenced him to more than a year in prison.



Two others linked to stealing the donations, Melissa Baca and Robert Holloway, received a year-and-a-half of probation.

Barsocchini said an inside job - connected to an employee - is rare.



Goodwill also trespasses those people who are caught stealing and shoplifting. So far this year, Goodwill has trespassed 641, according to Barsocchini.

Back at Salvation Army, the cops ultimately caught Moore, the man suspected of stealing batteries from the Salvation Army trucks.



"We're grateful for (law enforcement's) efforts and we hope that will help to slow down this process," Earnhart said.



Moore entered a not guilty plea to one count each of first-degree theft and second-degree criminal mischief.



Earnhart also recalls some particularly sad cases where, the very people Salvation Army works to help, are sometimes the same people who steal from the charity.



"When they start their new lives, they go back to some of their old habits again," Earnhart said. "They don't want to work, many of them, so they do what's familiar to them and they start participating in criminal behaviors."



But Earnhart knows, many others are never brought to justice.



To the grinches, Earnhart makes this plea: "Please, stop stealing from those in need."



TIPS AND RESOURCES:



Both charities have programs in place to help those in need.



At Goodwill, call 503-238-6100, ask for Ancillary Service Coordinator Lindsey Rieger.



Both charities stressed that, when making donations, drop them off during business hours to ensure they're accepted and processed at the retailer.



Most Goodwill retailers in the Columbia-Willamette region accept donations Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM, on Saturday: 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM, and on Sunday: 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM. To find a Goodwill location and business hours near you, click HERE.



To find a Salvation Army Drop off locations near you, click HERE.



Can't drop off donations? Salvation Army will pick up your items! To schedule a pick-up, click HERE

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