Well-dressed pickpockets targeting elderly women at stores
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FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Police are looking for a group of well-dressed gentlemen bandits preying on elderly women.
The victims are hit as they shop, and they never see it coming.
One victim was hit while shopping at the Federal Way Walmart on Nov. 26. Her wallet was stolen right out of her purse, even though she thought she was watching it.
"I did turn around in the bakery -- my sweet tooth got the better of me -- and I have the feeling that's when it was taken," she said.
Police say they've seen a rash of these crimes lately, all because shoppers get caught up in what they're looking for and don't realize crooks are looking at them.
"It's more of a crime of opportunity right now," said Lt. Kurt Schwan. "At this time of year, we have a lot of these things going on."
After the 80-year-old victim was hit at Walmart, store security zeroed in surveillance video on the man they believe is responsible for the grab-and-dash crime. Police have also obtained surveillance footage of similar incidents.
In these crimes, the crook takes the victim's credit cards, goes to another store and purchases Visa gift cards. Sometimes, they even buy a greeting card and tells the checker the items are for a family member. Police say that kind of chit-chat puts the clerk at ease, making the clerk less likely to check the name on the credit card. The crooks then move to other stores and start using the gift cards.
One victim was hit for $1,900 before she could get her cards canceled.
When she was shown photos of the suspect, she said, "I think I remember that cap. I think he's the one I saw walking down the main aisle."
The victim said she remembers him because he was well-dressed -- perhaps even too well-dressed for the store.
Police believe the thieves have also hit elderly women in Seattle, Kent, Mercer Island and Bellevue.
The victims are hit as they shop, and they never see it coming.
One victim was hit while shopping at the Federal Way Walmart on Nov. 26. Her wallet was stolen right out of her purse, even though she thought she was watching it.
"I did turn around in the bakery -- my sweet tooth got the better of me -- and I have the feeling that's when it was taken," she said.
Police say they've seen a rash of these crimes lately, all because shoppers get caught up in what they're looking for and don't realize crooks are looking at them.
"It's more of a crime of opportunity right now," said Lt. Kurt Schwan. "At this time of year, we have a lot of these things going on."
After the 80-year-old victim was hit at Walmart, store security zeroed in surveillance video on the man they believe is responsible for the grab-and-dash crime. Police have also obtained surveillance footage of similar incidents.
In these crimes, the crook takes the victim's credit cards, goes to another store and purchases Visa gift cards. Sometimes, they even buy a greeting card and tells the checker the items are for a family member. Police say that kind of chit-chat puts the clerk at ease, making the clerk less likely to check the name on the credit card. The crooks then move to other stores and start using the gift cards.
One victim was hit for $1,900 before she could get her cards canceled.
When she was shown photos of the suspect, she said, "I think I remember that cap. I think he's the one I saw walking down the main aisle."
The victim said she remembers him because he was well-dressed -- perhaps even too well-dressed for the store.
Police believe the thieves have also hit elderly women in Seattle, Kent, Mercer Island and Bellevue.
Well dressed Macks resorting to stealing from inattentive women at Wal-Mart - how proud they must be to stoop so offensively low. Wish people carried purses/wallets with the dye the banks use with some of their bags of cash! HA! Imagine colored smoke training your /\zz in the aisles of Wal-mart.
I really thought that in 2012 we'd have higher quality surveillance videos by now.
Well-dressed and in a WalMart should be a dead giveaway!
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@Bobby Brown Now that doesn't say much coming from Bobby Brown of all people.....
Could we get a description as detailed as the one earlier today regarding a hit and run and two melatonally challenged women?
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http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Man-injured-2-women-sought-after-head-on-crash-in-Federal-Way-182534431.html
Well dressed means having pants on not shorts I believe
Americans wouldn't know well dressed if it came up and butt raped them LOL
@Larry*X*K
Maybe Larry the Lounge Lizard can advise us. Anyone with an anal fixation can't have any fashion sense.
 @opout sorry if I touched a nerve
A real modern day Sanford & Son
"Would the defendant please rise" is what comes into my head whenever I see one of them in a suit.
 @Annie Toh I'm amazed that KOMO allows comments like that. You stay classy there Annie Toh.Â
 @Annie Toh Excuse me??? "one of them"  What exactly are you saying?Â
How many times have you seen a women leave her purse in the cart while she picks out her groceries? I see it almost every time I go shopping, purse sitting in the cart, wide open,wallet right on top. I know my son approached a lady one time to warn her that if he had bad intentions he could have taken her wallet and she would never have known what happened. So ladies, if you ever turn your back on your purse, make sure your wallet is not sitting right on top of your open bag! If you purse is closed, secured by the belt in the cart, and your wallet is in the bottom of your bag,that will decrease your chance of being a victim if you inadvertanly take your eyes off your bag.Â
 @Mamuk I see a lot of people--men "and" women just leave their wallet, money, and everything out on the counter while they mess with the pin pad. Even when the pin pad is almost a yard away. What is wrong with these people? And seriously--"I have a sweet tooth so I left my wallet in my shopping cart while I looked?" Why was your wallet in the cart in the first place?
 @Mamuk Yes! I always make a point of telling other women who are in the store with their purses open in the cart, that they should not be walking away from them.  A few times the women were downright rude, even though I said it in the most friendly way possible....  One told me that if she gets ripped off it's her business.  Umm okay, stupid lady.  lol.  Most are grateful for the reminder.  I wear my purse, closed, across my body, and am aware of it at all times.  But so many women wander through stores on their cell phones, totally unaware of their surroundings.  How awful these scumbags are, preying on elderly ladies, who are probably out shopping for their grandkids.  Special place in hell for criminals like that.  God.. I really hate druggies with a passion.Â
 @DT  @Mamuk I, too have observed multiple times, an unattended purses in a grocery cart; and like you, I, too. make it a point of finding the owner. I have been on the crusade for over five years, kindly pointing out their inattention because I've have two friends who lost their personal identities via a stolen purse from a grocery cart. 99% are gracious and thankful, saying 'I know I shouldn't do that'. One was indignant.
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THE worst case of grocery story neglect was a lone baby stroller in the produce department, with the purse IN the stroller, no mom in sight. I intentionally and loudly said, "Where is the the mother of this child in this stroller?" The mom was 50' away looking at lettuce. She came over and I asked her, "What is more important, your produce or your child and your money? If I was a criminal, I could have taken both from you." I was mad and she got it.
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All of this is such a sad scenario, but it is our unfortunate reality. The same notion goes for you ladies who take up aisle space with you huge designer bags, hanging off your shoulders, with an open bag BEHIND your arm......true theft bait. I can't count how many times I have said, "Excuse your purse."
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I will ONLY carry a purse that has a long strap so I can carry it ACROSS my body, with all zippers closed. I don't care one bit about being a fashion-ista, I'd rather be safe.
 @Mamuk I see that every time I go to a store with carts.  I have told several people, "You might want to watch your wallet, I can see it."  It is so astounding - and dumb!  Out in Maple Valley, in our little hometown newspaper, there are stories all the time in the police blotter about women getting their wallets lifted from their open bags in carts. Â
@Mamuk I see that every time I go to a grocery store also. Why do women think that they can do that????? Insane. Even as I'm pushing my cart, if I'm not holding my purse, I have the strap of it wrapped around my wrist while my hands are on the cart handle because I don't want someone just grabbing it and taking off. Guard it as you would your child........well........there are some people who don't do that either.
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 @Beau's Mom  @Mamuk Because they ought to have a right, not to share space with vermin?
@MamukÂ
I do not even carry a purse any more, haven't since landing in a wheelchair in 2009. It was just too damned complicated to keep track of the purse without it slipping down between the back & seat cushion, or to the side, and whelling myself at the same time.
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Now, I have a very small wallet, I fold up my bills & tuclk them in it behind my cards, and I keep it in my front pocket. I have found that this also helps keep me from overspending and/or impulse spending - no checkbook means it is far less tempting to spend money I may not really be able to afford.
At the Lloyd Center last Christmas, I became aware of a group of three black girls who were pickpocketing shoppers. The m.o. was to surround a victim (elderly woman in one instance at least) while she was on the escalator, and thereby distract her. One person stepped ahead of the victim, one to the side, and the other behind. Between the three of them, they were quite effective. They were eventually caught, but shoppers need to be defensive when Christmas shopping.Â
 @felines99 What color was their hair?
Time to set up a sting operation. Give them something to remember that moment forever.
The outlet malls are bad also. I was there a few weeks ago, when I notice some guy, who was dressed real nice following me. I ran to the bathroom and started putting everything in my bra and text my husband (who was there shopping wherever there is sport stuff) to meet me there at the restrooms. When I came out, I handed all cards to my husband and saw the guy sitting over on the bench. When he saw my husband, the guy left right away. The only thing that I could think of that made me a target, was I had a child in a stroller who is special needs.Â
OMG am I to understand, if you are a Negro man and well dressed at Walmart, you are out of place...
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The bias in this story doesnât surprise me unless there are substantial details not included in the KOMO report. I would never have run photos of people, labeling them as thieves, just on the say so of some store employee because they âthinkâ they are involved.
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We live in the age of video surveillance and would suggest obtaining video of the theft in progress.
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Keith could have shown the lady a picture of Obama and she might say, it looks like him.
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 @Harrison Most "nicely" dressed people don't shop at Wal-mart. African-American, white, Asian, whatever race. If you're wearing business casual, which is what these guys were wearing and it's a "good" label, it's more than likely you have money and don't need to shop at Wal-mart. Wal-mart and Whole Foods are not the same. That's why they stuck out, not because they were "negros."
 @Harrison With the hundreds of cameras in retail environments they likely have a frame by frame video of the actual thefts. And most people around here genuinely don't care what color someone is. There are good and bad people in every category of however you want to divide people up.Â
 @HarrisonÂ
KIRO ran this story last night - they have pictures from surveliance video at more than one store showing the exact same person. They are not showing any bias whatsoever - they are publishing pictures of the suspects.
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Most stores these days have you on camera from many angle before you even walk through the doors from the parking lot. Very likely they had the victims view the video to pinpoint themselves in the tapes, then they captured the people around the victim after she noti9ced her wallet was gone, and then backtracking to a point where the suspect is obviously following/observing her, waiting for his chance.
 @Harrison I assume these photos are of suspects. Maybe the article doesn't make that clear enough. It does say "police" are looking for them.Â
A well dressed black man shopping at Walmart should be a red flag!
@STKÂ
Biased much???
 @LocalLady I would say "realistic"...as any cogitating American is.
 @STK Maybe they're "refugees".Â
Nice way to say "Thank You America", if so. If they are, they MUST be deported back to their country of origin after they are caught.
So very many scummy people in this world. Â Watch your purses, ladies.
Sad but predictable this time of year.Â
Another thing, when you take your things to the car, always put your bag (purse) in the car first.