VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Detectives are looking to identity three suspects who stole credit cards from a woman while she was shopping and then racked out thousands of dollars in purchases.
It happened shortly before 6 p.m. Sept. 24 at the combined T.J. Maxx HomeGoods store in the London Bridge Plaza, according to the Virginia Beach Police Department.
A woman who was browsing the cosmetic aisle told police she was approached by one of the suspects, who began striking up a conversation about face cream.
While he was distracting her, another one of the suspects snatched her wallet out of her purse, which she had placed in the nearby shopping cart. The third suspect appeared to be the lookout.
“And so once they had her wallet, the gentleman that was a lookout immediately texted everybody … they were out of the store.” said Detective Francis W Nowadly with the VBPD crime squad.
The trio appeared to go on a shopping spree at places like Kohl’s, Target and Lululemon, ultimately charging $10,000 to the victim’s credit cards.
“So I believe that they’re buying these iPhones, the clothing probably to resell somewhere,” Nowadly said. “You know, it’s probably their goal to to get it for cheap and then flea market or whatever and market it and recoup the money from it.”
Nowadly believes this isn’t the first time this group may have dabbled in criminal activity.
“What I found is that these people are actually very good at what they do and they park some distance away even to the extent with a cross parked across Lynnhaven Parkway instead of parking in the mall where we might have some video,” Nowadly said. “So they’re very careful not to have the vehicle seen in this particular case. I have no video, no video of a car.”
Nowadly said the victim did the right thing by immediately alerting the store manager. He hopes others learn from the situation.
“If I go to the store, maybe I wouldn’t bring my wallet with 11 credit cards,” Nowadly said. “Maybe I would just bring one credit card, maybe leave it in the clutch purse or something small or pocket if the female has a pocket.”
He also said, while being friendly isn’t a red flag, if a conversation seems out of place, treat it as such.
“Why is this gentleman speaking to me about woman’s shoes or lady’s face cream?”
Anyone who knows anything is as asked to call 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.