A group of unabashed thieves with a penchant for leggings were caught on camera stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from a Lululemon store in California in a brazen daytime robbery.
The shocking video shows three young women, with their faces uncovered, stuffing yoga pants into large tote bags as other customers shop nearby on Tuesday. It was the second time that day the women targeted that location in Fresno, Calif.
“They are very bold, very bold,” Lt. Joe Gomez from the Fresno Police Department told local station KFSN-TV. “I had no idea it was like that. There was a young boy sitting there, looks like he’s 10, and they’re right next to him just committing their theft.”
The store said the thieves stole more than 100 pairs of yoga pants – worth more than US$10,000.
It’s not the first time the women have committed such a blatant daylight robbery, according to police. The group has been known to hit the same stores on multiple occasions.
“They walk into the store, a group of two or three, [they] come in with bags and they start filling those bags with items,” Officer Byron White from the Berkeley Police Department said.
The thefts have spanned Stanford to Berkeley, Calif. and began on July 8, police said.
In the latest incident, a manager of a neighbouring restaurant attempted to intercept the thieves in the parking lot. The Jack’s Urban Eats manager recognized the women leaving the Lululemon with the tote bags and was able to wrestle one of the bags away from one of them.
Lululemon’s policy forbids employees from chasing after thieves once they’ve left the store.
Police said they have identified the women’s getaway car and described it as a blue Chevy Impala registered in San Jose.
With files from KFSN-TV
