3 charged in video game thefts

Three Georgia men have been charged in a video game theft ring that targeted Wal-Mart stores in Georgia and Alabama.

Levar Raymone Thorton, 29, of LaGrange, Tyrell Maurice Myers, 18, of Conley, and Michael Cunningham, 19, of Union City, were charged with criminal attempt of theft by deception, according to the Times-Georgian newspaper of Carrollton. Myers and Thorton were also charged with theft by deception, the newspaper said.

Myers and Cunningham are students at the University of West Georgia, police said.

Police said the three suspects would buy Xbox games at Wal-Mart, remove the real games and replace them with a blank discs. They then returned the games for cash refunds and sold the real games on eBay.

A total of 84 video games had been stolen and returned in stores in Carroll County, Bremen, Newnan, Morrow, Austell, Lithia Springs, Columbus, Woodstock and Auburn, Ala. Total value of the games was $10,000, police said.

The suspects were being held at the Carroll County jail.