I had just finished checking out, had Conner and the items I had purchased in my cart and headed toward the door but waited because Nan was checking out behind me and was almost done so I was waiting for her to finish and we would walk to the car together before going to another store.
As I am standing (explaining to Conner why he cannot play with the Snow Globe I just bought him because it could fall and bust everywhere) I look up and see a seemingly cute blond lady, about 35, walking out of the bathroom (for some reason this Marshall's has a bathroom RIGHT by the door) with a purse and a bright green bag that is stuffed with items she has stolen. As she approaches the metal detectors and I have fully realized what she has done I turn to look at the cashier to let her know what was happening but the lady had already beeped through the detectors and is on her merry way. She didn't pause for one second when she beeped. She didn't flinch. She didn't run. She just kept on going as if it was the most normal thing that had happened. The employee called for security but the thief was gone. She had gotten away with it. I asked the security guard if he was going to call the police and he stated that once the shoplifter leaves the building they can't chase after them and she would be gone by the time they got there.
I was mad. Mad that this lady had walked in, snuck a bunch of items in her bag, and walked out, without paying and was getting away with it.
Nan and I talked about how crazy the whole situation was on the way to the car and I told her how I had seen the exact same thing happen at Kohl's a month prior. Same thing, a female, by herself, bag stuffed with items, she walked right out the door. She beeped, kept going, I watched her get in her car (from inside the store) and she was out of the parking lot before security got outside. Crazy.
So we loaded up our Marshall's bags in the car and headed into Last Chance. For those of you who have never been to Last Chance (the smart people who wouldn't dare get trampled for half price designer shoes), let me explain a little bit about it. Last Chance is located downstairs in a building. The building use to have several stores on the upper level, but because of the economy (I'm assuming), most of the stores are now vacant. Except for Last Chance. The downstairs area where the entrance of Last Chance is located has a "gate" that comes down preventing the crazy (myself included) shoppers from entering the store before they open, but they have racks with clothes and ties and jackets and tables with socks and shoes that you can browse and hold for when you go in the store and checkout.
So before we head down the stairs to wait in line with every other woman dying to get their hands on the jewelry that is now $5, I look straight down and there she is. Her. The one. The one who right before my eyes had walked out the door without paying. That one. And the bag. The bright green bag. So I grabbed Nan's arm and told her to look at who it was. She and I could not believe that she walked to the store next door immediately after stealing from another. Unbelievable. I told Nan we HAD to watch her. So we stayed on the top level and just watched her. I saw her talk to her Mom but I assumed she had no idea at what her daughter had just done. I assumed she told her mom she would be back and while her mom waited in line she ran next door to Marshall's to "get" a few things. But after about thirty seconds of watching her, I quickly realized I had it all wrong.
Her Mom was in on the whole thing too.
Nan and I could not believe what we were witnessing. Her kids were there too. The mom and grandma would grab items, hold them for a minute, then the arm of the mom's bright green bag would slip of her shoulders, letting them drop the items inside...all while the young kids innocently watched. No one around seemed to have any idea as to what was going on right around them. They were so focused on what they were going to buy first and what area of the store they wanted to get to before anyone else, that this lady, her mom and her FOUR kids were stealing right in the midst of the craziness.
Before long, the lady had her bag STUFFED. I mean not one more thing would fit...I thought. Then I got a glimpse of the stroller that held one of her youngest children and saw bags underneath that without a doubt held other items she had stolen earlier in the day. Disgusting.
I explained to Conner what was happening since he was standing with us and hearing us discuss how we wanted her to get caught, and I told him that when bad people take what is not theirs without paying for it, they will get caught. I don't know if it was the mom in me who wanted to show my son that we don't do that without consequences or if it was the little bit of me that wanted to be a detective (of some sort, ever since The First 48 aired, I have always thought being a detective would be an interesting job, except for all the dead bodies and long hours, and every other negative thing that comes with being a detective) but I told Nan that I needed her phone. A few days before, the camera on my phone had stopped working and I needed to take a picture. NOW!
And off I headed to the car to call the police! I called gave a detailed description of the lady (because I had stared at her for at least ten minutes), black sweat suit, black head band, blonde hair, about thirty five years old, and a darn bright green bag that is OVERFLOWING with stolen items.
Two police cars showed up a few minutes later and they went to the door of the store and came back within five minutes, withOUT the lady (I knew she was still in the store because Nan was in there and saw her, while the cops came to the door). I will never know if that lady was caught or if she got away with it, but like I told Conner, if she didn't get caught this time, she will eventually. I hope and pray, if only so her children see that this is not okay.
Unbelievable.
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