Prolific retail thief linked to dozens of crimes across Bay Area sentenced

A Sonoma County retail theft case ballooned into a Bay Area-wide investigation that led to a Richmond man’s sentencing this month to a five-year prison term, prosecutors announced.

Shawn Naputi, 42, was sentenced Jan. 7 in Sonoma County Superior Court after he pleaded no contest on Nov. 12 to six of 58 counts levied by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. The vast majority of those 58 counts are associated retail thefts across the Bay Area and Sacramento.

According to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, the case began in May 2024 when Naputi tried to take a trash can containing at least $2,400 in merchandise from Friedman’s Home Improvement on Santa Rosa Avenue. Employees recognized him from previous incidents and called authorities, who interviewed Naputi and linked him to seven Friedman’s thefts from that year.

Prosecutors charged Naputi in September 2024 with 11 counts mostly related to local thefts in early 2024. After further investigation, they revised allegations to include the 58 counts.

Naputi was accused of committing more than 80 thefts between Oct. 6, 2023, and May 22, 2025, in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Placer, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo. At least $80,000 in merchandise was taken from stores including Best Buy, Boot Barn, REI, Friedman’s Home Improvement, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kohls, Lowes, and Home Depot.

According to court records, Naputi pleaded no contest to two counts of grand theft that pertained to thefts at Best Buy and Boot Barn stores in Colma. He also pleaded no contest to four counts of organized retail theft covering activity in the other counties.

The District Attorney’s Office said the case was handled by its Organized Retail Theft Unit, which includes a dedicated prosecutor and investigator focused on prosecuting criminal activity involving retailers.

The Naputi case “further highlights the impact of the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Organized Retail Theft Unit, whose primary mission is to change expectations of criminal defendants, the public, and the criminal justice system by ensuring that there will be significant consequences if these crimes are committed in Sonoma County,” District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a statement.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com.