Video Shows Alleged Thief Knocking Himself Out as He Tries to Flee Store With $18,000 Worth of Merchandise
He walked directly into a glass door and fell to the floor.
Botched robberies are a staple of viral-video roundups, and unwitting participants keep adding to the collection. In this case, a 17-year-old would-be thief attempted to snatch $18,000 of merchandise at a Louis Vuitton store in Bellevue, Washington—and failed humorously.
In the video, the teen suspect is shown walking directly into the store's plate-glass windows, seemingly knocking himself out and falling to the floor. (Two of his accomplices managed to escape.) Read on to find out what happened.
The video shows an alleged thief attempting to make their way out of the store, before walking directly into a glass door and falling to the floor. Loss-prevention officers detained the teen, who was not alert but semi-conscious and breathing when officers arrived, Meeghan Black, Bellevue Police Department public information officer, told DailyMail.com.
The suspect was then arrested and later released to a family member at the hospital. The name of the alleged thief hasn't been released because he's a juvenile. But he is believed to be part of a retail theft ring, according to Fox News. Bellevue has seen an increase in organized retail theft around the city. Keep reading to learn more and see the video.
"Bellevue is a suburb of Seattle, a fairly wealthy suburb with high-end shops and access to the freeway, so it makes us an easy target," said Black. The city has recently launched an anti-crime initiative that uses real-time data to track crime.
"The police department in partnership with loss prevention of these stores have teamed up for higher visibility and undercover operations inside the stores to target these prolific thieves," said Black. "We have had significant success."
The Mirror reports that police detectives found the stolen bags for sale online, set up a buy, and arrested one of the suspects. Prosecutors charged three people with two counts of organized retail theft in the first degree, and another person with trafficking in stolen property in the first degree. All four suspects have previous criminal histories, according to court documents.
"These suspects were aggressive and coordinated in their efforts and often physically confronted employees or security who stood in their way," said Police Captain Shelby Shearer. "These crew also caused significant damage to the stores during the thefts, causing some businesses to close for the day to clean up the mess."
Retail theft has seen an upswing since the pandemic began. Last month, police in Wilmette, Ilinois, a wealthy suburb north of Chicago, arrested eight people believed to be part of a theft ring that had stolen $7.5 million worth of merchandise from several retail stores around the city. The thieves would sell stolen merchandise to illicit storefronts, police said.
"Organized retail crime is on the increase. It [has] a negative economic impact on retailers," the local police chief explained. "Our biggest concern is that of safety. Most of these over-the-counter medications, allergy and healthcare products are resold on third-party online marketplaces. The consumer does not know where they are purchasing expired medications."
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Last month, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers announced plans to introduce legislation that would form a task force to combat a nationwide surge in organized retail theft. The legislation would create an Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center within the Department of Homeland Security. The agency would establish relationships with state and local law enforcement agencies to share information on organized retail theft.
