Thief in stolen employee vest hits Lowe's, Best Buy in St. Albert
RCMP in St. Albert are seeking a suspect who spent hours inside a Lowe's store planning a large theft before heading to a nearby Best Buy and stealing merchandise worth up to $4,000.
In the late afternoon of Oct. 6, a man entered the Lowe's store and spent two to three hours inside, "arranging and preparing for a large theft, approximately $15,000," St. Albert RCMP said in a news release Friday.
The man entered the store manager's office and stole a Lowe's employee vest, police said.
He went through the store, "destroying security sensors with a hammer and setting up items to take," the news release said.
The man was caught on surveillance video leaving the store and coming back in several times, but police don't know if he stole any merchandise from Lowe's.
The video doesn't indicate "whether merchandise left with him," Const. M-J Burroughs told CBC News.
Around 7:30 p.m. the same day, the same man entered the Best Buy store wearing the stolen Lowe's employee vest. The Best Buy is one kilometre south of the Lowe's store.
At Best Buy, the thief stole monitors, portable speakers and a vacuum with a total value of $3,500 to $4,000, police said. The theft was caught on video surveillance.
The suspect has a medium/slender build, short brown hair, a receding hairline and short facial hair. He was wearing dark clothing and a Lowe's employee vest.
Anyone with information is asked to call St. Albert RCMP or Crime Stoppers.
