FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 2026
Contact: Team Saritha
Email: [email protected]

NEW YORK — Today, candidate for New York Attorney General Saritha Komatireddy issued the following statement in response to Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher’s Defense of Shoplifting:

“Prices are up because of shoplifting. Shoplifting is up because, in New York, shoplifters who are arrested get released back onto the streets in an hour. Criminals know this, so they build a whole business model around it. Organized crime rings steal goods off the shelves and then resell them elsewhere — on the street or online — for a profit. Middlemen called “fences” help facilitate the transactions.

This is quite profitable, so word has gotten out in the criminal underground. So much so that we are importing crime in New York — criminals from out of state target New York businesses for theft. Sheriffs and DAs across the state have told me they are seeing this trend: criminals from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, even Detroit, come into the state, steal cars or store goods, and escape. All of this drives prices up for the rest of us.

So let’s be clear: this is organized crime. And it is the result of a broken system that AG James brought about — by allowing DAs to refuse to prosecute, supporting catch-and-release bail laws, and deprioritizing the AG’s organized crime unit.

When I am Attorney General, I will reboot the AG’s Organized Crime Task Force, arrest and detain these theft rings, and work with legislators to fix the bail laws. Criminals belong in jail. And New Yorkers deserve to be protected. I will protect them..”

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