4 hours Ago By Trevor Myers
Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) -- Two people are facing charges related to a string of thefts at various Target locations in Utah, according to arrest documents.
Mercedesa Kvec, 22, and Sergiu Kvec, 23, are each facing one count of retail theft of $5,000 or more, which is a second-degree felony. According to arrest documents, both suspects are in the custody of Utah County Jail, and Sergiu has an active NCIC warrant out of California.Sergiu is said to be "personally responsible" for roughly $6,400 in losses, while Mercedesa is reportedly responsible for $6,000 in losses.
Arrest documents allege that the suspects were involved in "quick change" thefts across Utah at nearly 10 different Target locations.West Valley police offering $10K reward in 2022 cold case murderDocuments describe "quick change" thefts as a process where a suspect attempts to pay for a large purchase in cash, but uses "sleight of hand and confusion" to keep a portion of the cash and the merchandise. That process creates "a theft or 'loss' from the retailers," arrest documents explain.
After that initial theft, a "quick change" thief typically returns the items at another location and gets a return of the full value of the item, "creating a second theft or loss," documents said. Mercedesa and Sergiu have reportedly been linked to thefts from September 2024, in addition to thefts in March and April of 2025. The pair is accused of being involved in incidents at Target locations in Provo, Orem, American Fork, South Jordan, Sandy, Taylorsville, Centerville, and two different locations in Salt Lake City.
"These incidents comprised a mix of quick change thefts, attempted thefts, and returns of property obtained [through] these thefts," arrest documents read.Mercedesa and Sergiu have been ordered to be held without bail, pending a review hearing, documents said..
