Seasonal shoplifting cuts into profits

If you find a 67-piece set of fine china, an ice cream machine, a waffle maker and some nice area rugs under your Christmas tree, they might just have been stolen.

And if St. Nick delivers a 40-inch JVC flat-screen TV, well, you might want to ask for a gift receipt.

All of the items were shoplifted from local retailers this week, resulting in thousands of dollars in lost profits.

“A lot of people do their Christmas shoplifting at Wal-Mart,” said Cpl. Dave Reagan, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

The Wal-Mart on East Broadway in Spokane Valley is the most popular among shoplifters, he said. Theft reports from Old Navy, Sears and Macy’s are also common, in part because they have in-house security officers filling out the necessary paperwork.

Coeur d’Alene police Lt. Jay Heintz said other thefts and auto burglaries tend to increase during the holiday season. And as customers crowd into stores to buy gifts, Heintz said, there’s likely an increase in shoplifting as well.

Christmas shoplifters’ techniques vary.

The Bed Bath & Beyond store in Coeur d’Alene reported that a woman came into the store Wednesday, loaded a cart and then pushed it nonchalantly past customers waiting to pay for their purchases. She went outside and began unloading the merchandise into her car.

When an employee followed and asked for a receipt, she replied, “Sure, just a second,” and got into the car and drove off, according to a Coeur d’Alene police report.

The woman got away with the china, an ice cream machine, a waffle maker and three area rugs – $430 in merchandise. Employees told police she had also tried earlier in the week to leave with a cart of stolen items but was stopped at the door.

Early Thursday morning, a small business in Coeur d’Alene reported that someone had disconnected power to the business, disabling the alarm system, smashed a window out with a rock and stole a 40-inch television, priced at about $3,300.

An incident at the Valley Wal-Mart on Thursday was a family affair. A man, his wife and his two sons went to the store to do some Christmas shopping, Reagan said. When the father was done, he told one of his sons to run to their car to get an old Wal-Mart bag in which to stash his selections. Security officers watched the whole shopping excursion on video, and an officer stopped the family as they walked out of the store without paying.

The items taken, listed in the Wal-Mart security officer’s report, included four portable Sony PlayStations, one digital camera, one Sony PlayStation game and one costume for a pet.

Spokane resident Timothy Roullier, 41, was charged with second-degree theft.