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Shoplifting is a common crime in the United States, usually involving small monetary losses. However, a recent case involving a couple has caused a significant $1 million loss to Lululemon, a well-known Canadian-American premium athletic apparel retailer.
According to CNN, a Connecticut couple is accused of running an elaborate theft ring at Lululemon stores in multiple states, stealing nearly a million dollars from the company. Jadion Anthony Richards and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards are both charged with organized retail theft under a Minnesota law signed by Governor Tim Walz only last year. The case comes as retailers say the tide is gradually turning on what had been described as an epidemic of shoplifting.
Richards, Lawes-Richards and a third unidentified person worked together at Lululemon stores in Roseville and Woodbury, Minnesota, to walk away with thousands of dollars in merchandise, according to the criminal complaint, as per news report.
Police say more than $50,000 in Lululemon goods were found in suitcases left behind in the suspects' hotel room in Bloomington.
"The total loss to Lululemon with Richards, Lawes-Richards and their group (the company) identified so far is closer to $1,000,000," court documents say.
"Because of the outstanding work of the Roseville Police investigators - including their new Retail Crime Unit - as well as other law enforcement agencies, these individuals accused of this massive retail theft operation have been caught," a spokesperson for the attorney's office said in a statement on November 18. "We will do everything in our power to hold these defendants accountable and continue to work with our law enforcement partners and retail merchants to put a stop to retail theft in our community."