Another Day of Good Video!

I was sitting in my office thanking all that is holy that it was finally Friday, with two days off to follow. That doesn't happen often and it's worth all of the thanking I could muster.

I had just begun reviewing some video of the day before, when of course I was off, because of some empty MP3 packages found on the shelf, when the phone rang. It was the LP down the road from me advising me he just had a guy walk into his store, accidnetally ran into the same aisle as the LP, and he immediately turned and walked right out of the store. Now to the untrained eye...suspicious ya think? Is that normal shopper behavior? No, we didn't think so either. He provided me a description of the young man, the vehicle he got into, which happened to be waiting outside the front door, and even gave me the license plate on that vehicle. And to think, he left the store totally oblivious to the activity he has stirred up behind the scenes. Who do you think you're stealing from buddy...rookies?

I hung up, grabbed my coat and keys, and strolled out onto the salesfloor. No, the salesfloor isn't cold, but when it's 29 degrees outside, anyone without a coat must be an employee...get it? All part of that stealth undercover plan.

I strolled out toward the front window looking for the vehicle I was told about. After a few minutes, plenty of time for them to arrive if that was their plan, I did a lap around the store, and returned to my office with a mild sweat created under the coat.

Back to the video. Fortunately, due to some recent MP3 player thefts,I had recently repositioned a camera in the Electronics Department which would give me a better view of the MP3 aisle. I was really hoping this move would pay off with our empty package findings. With the help of an attentive employee, I could tell it occurred on Thursday, but the time was anyone's guess. I found out that the employee left the store at the end of his shift at 6pm...so that narrowed it down by four hours. The employee thought he located the packages about an hour or so before he left....okay, two more hours eliminated. Investigation is fun!

I brought up the camera on the MP3 aisle and just hit fast forward as I stared at the screen. Any time I saw movement, I stopped and reviewed. Sometimes it was an innocent shopper being watched, sometimes an employee stocking shelves. Finally, as the clock on the screen scrolled toward 1510...another person is spotted hanging around the aisle. I stop and review. It's a black male, leather jacket and hood sticking out of the collar. He is carrying a hand basket and pacing back and forth. "Ha!" I said sort of to myself...and sort of out loud.

I scrolled back to see the front door and to trace his steps once he arrived. He strolls through the front door, starts to walk by the stack of baskets, steps back and takes one, then stops by at the stack of sale papers and decides to take one of those as well. How "shopper-like" of him, I thought.

He is then seen in the MP3 aisle looking around, ducking down behind the counter, looking around and reaching up toward the players hanging on the hooks. I am certain, I have found my criminal. He then walks out of the aisle, with basket in hand, and strolls along TV's and the CD's. As I focus my attention on another camera to follow his path, something catches my eye on one of the other 24 camera angles I have before me. I rewound the video a bit, and found it was another person popping out of the MP3 aisle and glancing up and down.

"Wow, play look out much?" I actually said out loud. Again, I went through the paces of rewinding until this young man arrived at the store. This time I was watching a large white guy wearing shorts, (still 29 degrees out) and flip flops. Right behind him is a white guy wearing a white baseball cap and long blue coat. After I see them enter, I then see them walk into the MP3 aisle. Could it be possible that we had two or three shoplifters at the same time, in the same aisle? When I am not in the store...of course we could! That is exactly how my luck is! I continue to watch.

(I will have to label these guys now so you can maybe follow along. Black guy = Perp 1, Large white guy in shorts = Perp 2, Small white guy in white baseball cap = Perp 3)

Perp 1 continues his shopping in the far corner of the department, fingering DVD movies and video games. I am suspecting he will take something in his basket and walk to a secluded part of the store to conceal them. We will then find the empty basket later at the scene of the crime. With one eye on that camera, I keep my other eye on the two guys near the MP3's. Perp 2 stands at the end of the aisle where it intersects with the main aisle, keeping an eye out for employees. Perp 3 is then seen with two hands up on the hooks holding the MP3's. He needs both hands because he is holding the package on the locked hook, and using a razor blade to cut the player out of the package. He spends some time doing this then moves on. He turns and finds a DVD Player sitting on a shelf on the opposite side of the aisle. He picks it up and strolls up and down the aisle as he tries to get the box open. He fails, and leaves the ripped box and pieces of cardboard on the shelf. Perp 2 eventually wanders away and begins perusing other aisles in the department. Perp 1 is eventually seen strolling away from the department in the main aisle, as Perp 3 enters the Cell Phone aisle. He first walks end to end checking for people in the area. He turns and walks back to the Cell Phones, also securely locked on the hooks. On his next pass, he bends over, pulls a knife out of his pocket and cuts the plastic from the top of the package, then stands and walks away. He makes a circle, lapping the department to get an overview of where the employees are, then again, like a fighter pilot swooping over Pearl Harbor, he comes in again, pulls the same package off the hook and begins to cut the package open. I wasn't sure why at first, but after a number of reviews of the video, he stops trying to get the phone out of the package. I widened the view and discovered Perp 1 strolling by the end of the aisle and suddenly he looks back behind him down the main aisle. He glances back toward Perp 3 and instantly Perp 3 stands up and begins "shopping" in another area of the aisle. Five seconds later, an employee walks by the aisle. I don't have audio, but my money is on the fact that Perp 1 was the lookout and signalled Perp 3 that an employee was approaching. This is the first time I begin to think all three guys are together.

Perp 3 circles the department a few more times and finally turns and walks toward the front door. I bring up the camera on the door and see Perp 1 and Perp 2 together asking a question of the employee at the service desk , before they stroll out together. So there ya have it. All three were working in concert.

For their efforts, they walked out with two $20.00 MP3 players, and failed attempts at two more, and almost a $100.00 cell phone.

I have several good photographs from the time they spent with us, and look forward to their next visit with us. I won't even have to wait for the theft next time...I intend to have the Police Department in the Electronics Department within minutes of their arrival.

Steal from me one time, shame on me. Steal from me again....shame on you! C'mon back boys! The water is fine!