Emphasis patrol to deter shoplifting nets 4 arrests, Lacey police say
A concentrated effort to deter shoplifting at South Sound Center last week resulted in four arrests, a spokesman for Lacey police said Monday.
All four were men arrested at the Target store in the area, Sgt. Jeremy Knight said. They also had probable cause to arrest a woman for the same crime, but she fled the scene in a black BMW, he said.
The four men were booked into the Nisqually Jail which houses misdemeanor offenders.
Lacey police worked with store employees from the area who are hired to prevent shoplifting. In addition to Target, South Sound Center is home to Kohl’s, Michaels and Marshalls.
The organized effort began at 9 a.m. April 4 and within minutes Lacey police had made their first arrest, Knight said.
Knight said police will continue to hold such patrols.
Shoplifting has been a recent problem at Target, according to previous reporting by The Olympian.
In March, a 37-year-old Federal Way man was arrested on suspicion of multiple crimes when he emerged from the Lacey Target store with a shopping cart full of stolen merchandise.
A search of his vehicle also turned up store items taken from the Target in west Olympia. More than $2,000 in merchandise was recovered, according to police.
