WEST NYACK NY Dec. 19, 2007- A man and a woman from Queens were arrested Saturday afternoon after they were found with more than $3,500 worth of merchandise stolen from stores at the Palisades Center and Woodbury Common, the Clarkstown police said.
A security guard at a nearby store noticed Jesus Villarreal Ramirez, 28, and Nadia Kana, 22, both of Corona, twice filling booster bags with items and leaving Victoria's Secret at the Palisades Center without paying, said police Sgt. Harry Baumann. Booster bags are shopping bags lined with lead to prevent security sensors from detecting the tagged items inside.
After the second trip, they drove south on the Thruway in a rental car and were intercepted at the Tarrytown toll plaza by state and Clarkstown police, Baumann said.
Merchandise worth $3,569 was found in the car: $1,320 from Victoria's Secret; $1,085 from the Gap; $472 from Express Women; $305 from Tommy Hilfiger; and $387 from The Children's Place, Baumann said. Items were stolen from the Palisades Center and from Woodbury Common in Orange County, he said.
Incidents of petty shoplifting typically increase around the holiday season, but Baumann described these two suspects as professionals. He said professional shoplifters typically hit Woodbury Common, the Palisades Center and the Galleria mall in White Plains, and the suspects probably were on their way to the Galleria.
"These are professionals and they do this for a living ... year in and year out," he said. "It's usually a route that they do."
Police also found that the rental car had been borrowed with false identification, he said.
Ramirez and Kana were arrested on charges of fourth-degree grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle, all felonies; and possession of burglar's tools and criminal possession of an anti-security device, both misdemeanors. Ramirez was also charged with second-degree possession of a forged instrument, a felony. They were being held in the Rockland jail with bail set at $20,000 each.
A security guard at a nearby store noticed Jesus Villarreal Ramirez, 28, and Nadia Kana, 22, both of Corona, twice filling booster bags with items and leaving Victoria's Secret at the Palisades Center without paying, said police Sgt. Harry Baumann. Booster bags are shopping bags lined with lead to prevent security sensors from detecting the tagged items inside.
After the second trip, they drove south on the Thruway in a rental car and were intercepted at the Tarrytown toll plaza by state and Clarkstown police, Baumann said.
Merchandise worth $3,569 was found in the car: $1,320 from Victoria's Secret; $1,085 from the Gap; $472 from Express Women; $305 from Tommy Hilfiger; and $387 from The Children's Place, Baumann said. Items were stolen from the Palisades Center and from Woodbury Common in Orange County, he said.
Incidents of petty shoplifting typically increase around the holiday season, but Baumann described these two suspects as professionals. He said professional shoplifters typically hit Woodbury Common, the Palisades Center and the Galleria mall in White Plains, and the suspects probably were on their way to the Galleria.
"These are professionals and they do this for a living ... year in and year out," he said. "It's usually a route that they do."
Police also found that the rental car had been borrowed with false identification, he said.
Ramirez and Kana were arrested on charges of fourth-degree grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle, all felonies; and possession of burglar's tools and criminal possession of an anti-security device, both misdemeanors. Ramirez was also charged with second-degree possession of a forged instrument, a felony. They were being held in the Rockland jail with bail set at $20,000 each.
No comments:
Post a Comment