Macy’s, North Face Robberies Highlight Aggressive Shoplifting …

Click here to read the full article.[1] Violent encounters between increasingly aggressive shoplifters and loss prevention staff at retail stores continue to be a problem, as was evidenced last week in an incident at a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-area Macy's[2]. Shortly after 11 p.m., last Tuesday, police responded to reports of shoplifters[3] fleeing after having ransacked items in the store and when approached by Macy's staff, allegedly pepper-sprayed the employee before fleeing to the parking lot, according to WPLG TV in Fort Lauderdale.

According to Broward County court records, police began following a 2019 white Lexus in a chase that picked up speed after cops turned on sirens. The Lexus then crashed into a 2016 Kia Soul, resulting in minor injuries suffered by its occupants. The driver, Armani Green, 21, of North Lauderdale, Florida, and a 17-year-old minor fled the Lexus on foot, according to police reports.

Green gave himself up in a canal just off the road, while the minor ran into a line of shrubs in an attempt to hide before the responding officer's K9 partner subdued the suspect. The minor was taken to the hospital and cleared for injuries resulting from the dog bite before both were processed at the Lauderhill PD. According to media reports, there was a third person in the vehicle who was not charged.

Green was charged with resisting arrest without violence, a first-degree misdemeanor and fleeing with disregard of safety to persons or property, a second-degree felony. There were no charges listed related to the attempted shoplifting at Macy's or assault on the employee. On the same day in Berkely, California, a pair of assailants allegedly stole more than £1,000 in merchandise from a North Face Outlet[4] store and fled in a vehicle that police said, in a Facebook post, bore a false license plate.

In the post, the Berkely Police Department said an off-duty police officer heading into work spotted the car and detained a suspect entering the car. Officers said they noticed a jacket being one of those stolen earlier in the day from the North Face Outlet and upon searching the suspect found methamphetamine and cocaine. Publicly available arrest records have not been updated by the BPD since February 12.

Neither Macy's nor The North Face responded immediately to Sourcing Journal requests for comment. Meanwhile, in Memphis, one of the cities hardest hit by organized retail crime[5], Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced he will be holding bi-weekly press conferences, in part, to address the ongoing problem of retail theft. He also announced a concerted effort in the prosecutor's office to identify the biggest ORC offenders and build stronger cases.

"We're gonna make sure we wrap all those cases to centralized prosecutors, people who are going to develop expertise on who the repeat players are," Mulroy said in his Thursday press conference. In addition, Mulroy, who was elected for his first term in August, announced, his office would provide free lunches and free parking for victims and witnesses at the courthouse when cases are being prosecuted. "It's extremely important we make the experience for witnesses as painless as possible," Mulroy said.

Memphis businesses have reported more than 600 robberies this year[6], an increase of more than 30 percent from this time last year.

References

  1. ^ Click here to read the full article. (sourcingjournal.com)
  2. ^ Macy's (sourcingjournal.com)
  3. ^ shoplifters (sourcingjournal.com)
  4. ^ North Face Outlet (sourcingjournal.com)
  5. ^ organized retail crime (sourcingjournal.com)
  6. ^ 600 robberies this year (sourcingjournal.com)