MA Video Rental Store Was Front For Crime Ring, State Police Say

LEOMINSTER, MA — This video store hasn't rented a movie since "Django Unchained" came out almost a decade ago. Instead, the new releases at Adopt A Video in Leominster included stolen goods like a crossbow and power tools.

Police arrested and charged Adopt A Video owner John Duplease, 66, of Lancaster, this week following a year-long investigation into organized retail theft by state and local police, and private investigators from retailers like Walmart.

State police began investigating Duplease after a February 2020 traffic stop in Leominster. Police arrested a woman for having outstanding warrants. Shortly after, police got an alert that the vehicle she had been driving was involved in a shoplifting incident at a Home Depot.

After police pulled the vehicle over a second time, officers discovered the woman's boyfriend had stolen cordless drill batteries from the big-box store. He exchanged them for cash at Adopt A Video, and was going to use the money to bail his girlfriend out of jail, state police said.

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That's when police started to take a closer look at Adopt A Video, whose Facebook page — not updated since 2013 — declares is your "one and only local video rental store." Detectives identified "boosters" running stolen goods in and out of the store, the also began goods from Duplease, police said.

Police raided Duplease's Lancaster store and home on May 8. They recovered over 6,300 stolen items, including vehicles, more than two dozen guns and over $15,000 in cash. Police believe Duplease earned over $1 million from selling stolen goods online over the years.

Duplease was charged with being a leader of an organized retail crime ring, receiving stole property worth over $1,200 and improper storage of a gun, according to state police.