Svelte, savvy, sticky-fingered lady bandits have hit Lululemon stores in California 4 times in a month: Police
Burglars hit Lululemon 4 times taking merchandise worth $1000s
A gang of brazen female burglars have returned at least four times to the same Lululemon location in Berkeley, California, to rob it, making off with thousands of dollars in merchandise over the course of the month of July, authorities said.
Surveillance videos show three women in good shape walking into the high-end athleticwear shop Lululemon in Berkeley, California, swiftly and brazenly grabbing as much clothing as they could and tossing it into their bags until they were full.
In one video, the three walked in and took clothes from a wardrobe in front of a lady holding a boy’s hand, while another child sitting in the shop watched. The other video shows the trio turned back to the same spot and repeated their action.
Lululemon did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.
Fresno police are also searching for this same group of women who bolted from the Lululemon store in Fresno last weekend with more than a hundred pairs of yoga pants, according to local ABC News affiliate, KFSN.
The burglars’ M.O. is to walk into stores together, stuff their bags with merchandise, and walk out, Berkeley Police Department spokesman Byron White told ABC News over the phone.
"They walked in with bags and they proceeded to go to the shelves and started putting several pair of pants into their bags and then they walked out of the store," he said.
The crimes were committed within a minute, according to White.
"The majorities of these crimes are happening in about one minute," he said. "They were walking in with bags already in hands and they just grab a bunch of stuff off the shelf and then they walked out.”
White could not give the total value of the items that were stolen but said each piece of merchandise costs around $1,000.
"The crime usually involves two or three people, women," he said.
"They bring their own bags, and they just loaded up everything they could fit into their bags and they walked out," he said, adding that all the crimes took place between 1 and 4 pm at the Lululemon at 1901 Fourth Street.
"We are looking for all three," he said, noting that the three get into a waiting vehicle after their mission.
The crimes took place on June 1, July 2, July 9, July 11 and the last one with the video happened on July 18.
"We can’t say that all of these cases are related, but we do know that the majority of them are related," he said.
"It happens in Berkeley in July four times, but it also happened in other Lululemon stores in other cities."
Though White said he never shops for himself at Lululemon, he learned from others that expensive merchandise at Lululemon makes the store a prime target for criminals.
"There is more of reward than there is a risk of getting punishment then that’s the decision that they made."
"They are bold," he said, adding that the police released the video yesterday, and are working with the business owner to arrest the criminals.
“If anyone has information, give us a call so we can arrest them.”
A Lululemon spokesperson told ABC News in a statement, "We take crime very seriously and are following our protocol for responding to these incidents and cooperating with local authorities."
