SATURDAY STORY - NOVEMBER 26, 2022

Saturday Story 

Alyssa Bauer walked through the ladies' department for the fourth time.  She stopped to look at a Vera Wang top, again. She held it up against her body, again.  She held it up over her head to check the color, again - but that was to check out the security person’s location.  The security person was not in sight - good.  She hung the top back on the rod.  Her purse had jewelry, a Fitbit, and an iPhone charger.  They would bring her about $160 once she got outside the store.  Not bad for twenty minutes of shopping.  She passed again through the lingerie department and picked up a three-pack of panties after checking things out again.  That would get her through the checkout lane without suspicion.

She quietly steeled herself to go to the checkout.  There were two registers open, one had what looked like a part-time seasonal employee.  She almost smiled when she saw that seasonal employee yawn and check her watch.  

She put the panties on the counter and pulled out a credit card to pay.  She made some small talk about liking the color, paying for the panties, and heading to the door.  Twenty steps to the door, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen.  Her smile was still plastered on her face.  No security person yet.  

Alyssa had identified the floor walker within five minutes when she got to the Kohl's story in the Westdale Mall.  She was a slim lady, maybe in her 40s or 50s, with a boring hairdo, and almost non-descript clothes.  They never wore anything fashionable - that would be a giveaway, but the boring clothes screamed “SECURITY” louder than a brilliant orange dress with sequins. 

Ten, nine, eight - almost out the door.  She was through the inside door.  Six, five, four, three, two, and out the exterior door.  She crossed the parking lot and zigzagged her way next to a large super cab pickup truck.  She ducked down quickly as if picking up a coin on the pavement but was taking off her wig and stuffing it into her oversized purse.  Eventually, a quarter of a mile away, she reached her parking place between two extra large pickup trucks by the Home Depot.  She had seen the security camera by Kohls, but she was out of view of that one, and with her misdirection and extra steps felt she made it.

*****

Julia Meyers had seen Alyssa and had seen her pick up the jewelry, Fitbit, and iPhone charger. She was on the security cameras.  Julia was walking to the front door to stop Alyssa with her phone in hand to call the police.  But then an older lady had asked her where the restrooms were and in that briefest of interaction, Alyssa was out the door and gone.  

Julia did go out the door and looked for the shoplifter.  She didn’t know the name, so was thinking of her as Sheri Shoplifter.  But, Sheri (or whatever her name was), was gone.  She would be on the security videos - but Julia sensed that Sheri Shoplifter was a professional and would have parked a long way away and would have avoided cameras if possible.  

Julia had no idea if Sheri Shoplifter was working on her own, or working on specs for a manager.  The Fitbit and iPhone charger suggested maybe she was following some shoplifting list given to her.  The good shoplifters worked for the shadow agencies on a 50 percent commission.  The items that the shoplifter took would generally be small and yet valuable and could be shipped around the country easily.  

*****

An hour-and-one-half later, Alyssa was in her apartment in Waco Texas.  She grabbed a brown mailing envelope from her desk and put the Fitbit and charger in it.  She kept the jewelry for herself - at least for the time being.  She could pawn it off someplace down the line.   

*****

But Julia Meyers hadn’t been just twiddling her thumbs.  She started looking at the video footage within the store. Yes, Sheri Shoplifter, or whatever her name was had identified some of the security cameras but she had missed finding at least two cameras. Outside the store, she saw some of the movements of the girl.  But, in the past three years, the stores in the mall had worked together to give each other access to the parking lot cameras.  She watched as Sheri  Shoplifter weaved her way around the parking lot.  Julia saw the girl duck down and take off her wig.  By the time the girl got to her car, Julia had an excellent face print.  

There was a trial program between the National Association of Retail Stores and the FBI.  Julia submitted her face print image to the National Association of Retail Stores with a description of what was shoplifted.  The FBI had higher priorities in national crimes, but by that evening there was an hour when the various uploaded face prints were run against the FBI’s vast image database.  The facial recognition program was over 99% accurate.  The program worked even when Alyssa had the wig on.  

The information went back to the National Association of Retail Stores and the Texas Bureau of Investigation.  In addition, the application ran through other images that had been collected, and Alyssa Bauer was identified six more times with an estimated value of over 1,000.  That tripped the scale and started the process to stop Alyssa Bauer from her shoplifting spree.

*****

Over the next week, the Texas Bureau of Investigation assigned this case to Tim Daty.  Tim pulled the records together from the seven recorded incidences.  The estimation was that Alyssa probably hit maybe another ten stores that either didn’t get reported or recorded.  

The analysis suggested that Alyssa liked to pull her shoplifting trips on Thursdays in the morning.  She traveled to stores in Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Austin, Grapevine, Plano, and other locations. The TBI asked the Waco Police to watch her car next Thursday.  True to her nature, she left her apartment at 7:45 a.m. The plain squad car tailed her until she got on Interstate 35 heading south.  She wasn’t a fugitive or even a true suspect, but the analysis suggested that she was headed on a shoplifting trip. Other surveillance cameras identified her as parking in the Barton Springs Shopping Center. Watching live in real time, Tim Daty saw Alyssa part her car over a mile away from the mall in a restaurant parking lot and meandered to a TJ Maxx, then to a Ross Dress Shop, and then to a Target Store. Tapping into the cameras at Target, he saw Alyssa pick up an iPad and an Apple Watch in the electronics department, and a small espresso machine.  Even with her large purse, she had to be careful not to overdo it with larger items.  Tim laughed to himself as he could hear the local security person who was watching Alyssa talking to an associate.  He had to break his communication silence to tell the local security person that the Texas Bureau of Investigation was taking over the case.  Outside the entrance were four undercover Texas Rangers ready to apprehend Alyssa after she exited the store.

*****

Alyssa was doing her regular scrutiny. There wasn’t a local security person watching her every move (or Alyssa didn’t see the local person) - but in living color, several people were watching her every move.  

Leaving the store, she was as casual as could be, not noticing the four Texas Rangers closing in on her.  

With a search warrant to check her purse and her person, a female agent opened Alyssa’s purse and found the iPad, iWatch, and espresso machine.  Alyssa knew enough to keep quiet as the agent read her her Miranda Rights.  

Meanwhile, another group of Texas Rangers with the Waco police were executing a search warrant on Alyssa’s apartment.  They found several items in the original packaging that seemed to be possible shoplifting items.  

*****

Epilogue

Alyssa was convicted of shoplifting and based on the video evidence she was required to pay full restitution - and was sentenced to two years in prison.  Julia Meyers did testify at the trial and Tim Daty gave the video evidence.

She was also required to undergo counseling.  Then she volunteered to do presentations to high students about shoplifting that would shorten her sentence.  

*****

Karen’s comments

Shoplifting adds about 10 to 18% to the retail cost of items.  Technology has helped.  

Shoplifting causes honest people to pay more.  

Love does win.  Crime also doesn’t pay.

Karen Anne White, © November 26, 2022