The Bunker Blog

Tiffany Lynn Boatwright allegedly took her 10-month-old daughter shoplifting on Wednesday at her local Walmart. According to police reports, she shoplifted over $300.00 worth of merchandise, including perfume, diapers, and some new undies. Then when she attempted to exit the store and was approached by store loss prevention, she put her baby at risk by fighting with the LP folks. Anybody want to nominate Tiffany for Mom of the year?

Link to the news story, complete with video, below:

Source: Ocala.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

Okay, so they aren’t a legitimate drug company; in fact, they’re not a company at all, but a trio from South Haven, MI, were arrested after police detained a 40-year-old female for retail fraud. She led the police to her accomplices, who were waiting in their car, with their meth lab.

All three were arrested and charged with retail fraud. A 46-year-old male subject was also charged with operating a meth lab.

Now this is multi-tasking. Let’s go shoplifting, and oh, yeah! Let’s cook some meth while we’re at it. It’s a sad state of affairs when drug manufacturers have to subsidize by shoplifting

Comments always welcome

Source: WOODTV.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

Natasha Caines, 33, of Queens, NY, was nabbed by cops in Braintree, MA, after she allegedly stole some Nautica apparel from Macy’s. She was observed by loss prevention agents trying to remove sensor tags from high end jackets. When she couldn’t get them off, she picked out the Nautica merchandise, that was not tagged, and then exited the store with it. She was observed placing the merchandise into a Mercedes. She then proceeded to walk away, but was detained by police.

Police found two watches in Caines’ purse that had apparently been shoplifted from nearby Gap. Upon searching the Mercedes, police recovered over $1,150.00 worth of merchandise, mostly clothing and jewelry, presumably stolen by Caines from area retailers, including Talbots, J. Crew, Aldo Accessories, Forever 21, and Arden B.

Of course, she was only charged with shoplifting from Macy’s, and for possession of stolen property for the watches. The stuff in the Mercedes was returned to the stores, but none of them pressed charges.

I wonder if she drives a Mercedes because she can afford it from all that shoplifting. I mean, $1,150.00 in one haul is a pretty good day. This is pure speculation, but I also wonder if she drove all the way there from NY just to shoplift, or was she just visiting and decided to go on a shoplifting spree while she was there?

Oh, I know. The economy made her do it

As always, your comments are welcome here.

Source: Wicked Local

Photo: Stock Exchng

Popularity: 4% [?]

A couple of weeks ago, we did a short article about the dangers of working in loss prevention. In that article, I noted several recent incidents of violence against LP personnel by shoplifters. Then, just a few days later, Greg Wainio was dragged to death by shoplifters Samantha Lomasny and James Woodworth while they tried to escape after shoplifting from a Kmart in Waterford Township, MI. Today, there are more incidents to report.

In Detroit, MI, Felicia Annette Roberson allegedly bit a Sears loss prevention agent twice after she tried to steal a $500 home entertainment center from the store. When the LP Agent confronted her, she fought and ended up biting the agent twice before being subdued. The agent was treated for the bite wounds.

In Columbia, MO, Kimberly L. Brown fought with Macy’s LP agents when she was confronted for stealing 2 pairs of jeans. Brown was charged with 2nd Degree Robbery. The story indicates this was the second incident in a week where shoplifters fought with Macy’s LP.

In Rockdale, GA, Charles E. Blanton, 48, of 65 Eleanor Drive was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and theft by shoplifting after he pulled a box knife on a Walmart LP agent and escaped after being detained for stealing two pillowcases, one measuring spoon, a bra and a package of dress socks, valued at $49.

So, does this represent an increase in violent activity directed toward loss prevention agents? I don’t know. I haven’t done any scientific studies to determine this, but it would be interesting to see one. Working in loss prevention as long as I have, I also know that there are many incidents where shoplifters fight LP that don’t even make the news.

If violent shoplifters are on the rise, what are the causes? Is it the economic pressures put on people causing them to behave more desperately? Are retailers properly training and supporting LP agents to make good decisions when offenders turn violent? Are LP agents being given the tools to conduct follow up investigations and work with police and prosecutors to successfully prosecute shoplifters who “get away”.  Do laws need to be more strict, or at least more strictly enforced when it comes to shoplifters who turn violent? It’s probably a combination, but I’d love to hear what you think. Write your comments below so we can explore this issue.

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