WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Police said a theft ring that has plagued local merchants for years is at it again after serving the last of its theft sentences.

Businesses have been alerted in the past to be aware of the two women and their methods, which involve one thief taking items while the other keeps store employees distracted.

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Chelsea Hoyt was sent back to jail today, November 7, 2024, on a warrant for stealing from Old Navy in October. Police said he worked with an unnamed accomplice to take $463 worth of clothing.

Hoyt also has another charge of theft in September at Berend Brothers, for which her frequent accomplice, Tina Crump, is also charged.

Hoyt and Crump were also arrested on October 17, 2024, on theft warrants when an employee at Ollie’s Bargain Outlet recognized them from previous Crime Stoppers Most Wanted photos and called the police.

Hoyt was then arrested again on Nov. 7 at her home on another warrant. Officers say they asked her multiple times if she was Chelsea Hoyt, and she said no, she was “Chanelle. However, officers positively identified her from her previous photos, and she eventually admitted to being Chelsea Hoyt.

Hoyt was last convicted of theft on September 14, 2023, with a 9-month sentence. Crump was sentenced to two years in state prison for theft on September 22, 2022. Hoyt has 16 arrests on record, while Crump has 22.

Police have cases linking the two in shoplifting as far back as 2020, although both had multiple shoplifting arrests years prior.

The robbery at the Berend Brothers on Seymour Highway in September fits the past pattern of the two suspects.

Employees said two women entered the store; one distracted an employee while the other took an Echo chainsaw and left. A police officer viewed the security video and immediately identified the suspects as Hoyt and Crump.

The saw was later recovered when a resident called police and said she became suspicious after purchasing it from a woman identified as Chelsea Hoyt outside a Walmart.

Both suspects are accused of numerous thefts and felonies and were banned from all Walmarts several years ago.

As of this posting, Hoyt remains jailed on $15,000 bond, while Crump has been free on $35,000 bond since her arrest on October 17, 2024.

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