Dr. Phil Shoplifting Family Investigated – A shoplifting family that appeared on Dr. Phil boasting about the easy money they made selling stolen goods on eBay are being investigated.
A couple who went on national television to brag about making $100,000 shoplifting and selling their loot on eBay is under investigation by federal agents.
Matthew and Laura Eaton of San Marcos appeared on the “Dr. Phil” show last fall to share their story, aided by a video of their three small children accompanying them on a three-day shoplifting binge.
Last week the Secret Service and other members of the multi-agency San Diego Regional Fraud Task Force searched their home and seized toys, a car and other belongings.
The Eatons have not been arrested or charged. The couple hired an attorney with the United Defense Group in Los Angeles to represent them, but the firm said Thursday they would not comment on the case.
Dave Hillen, a detective at the San Diego County sheriff’s office, said he investigated the Eatons for shoplifting before their television appearance.
Last August he received a complaint from a Target store in Vista that the couple had stolen a LEGO kit and confronted them at their home. Hillen said he noticed a pile of unopened toys in the family’s garage, but the Eatons claimed they sold the toys online.
He said the couple admitted stealing the LEGOs and he filed a misdemeanor case with the district attorney’s office.
They appeared on the show several months later, telling Dr. Phil McGraw that they made $3,500 in one week from selling stolen toys. Matthew Eaton called the thefts “easy money.”
“I searched and searched the Internet and found the show,” Hillen said. “I contacted the district attorney’s office … and said ‘I’ve got new information.’ ”
That’s when the case went to the San Diego Regional Fraud Task Force and the Secret Service got involved, Hillen said.
Laura Eaton acknowledged during the show that she and her husband may have violated federal law when they transported stolen property across state lines.
Sheriff’s officials said the couple is suspected of several thefts from the Vista Target and of continuing to steal after appearing on “Dr. Phil.”
According to the show, the couple has been stealing for at least six years.
McGraw said in the episode that the couple’s children – who were shown in a video chronicling what the couple described as three-day shoplifting trip – were ages 4, 2 and 1 when the show aired in November.
And that’s the latest news on the Dr. Phil Shoplifting Family Investigated.
Tags: crime, dr. phil, online shopping, shoplifting, shoplifting family investigated