Video catches California shoplifters sprinting out of Sears under heaps of clothes
Video capturing Northern California shoplifters struggling to escape a department store under heaps of stolen clothing has gone viral.
The video — recorded at the Hilltop Mall in Richmond, California, and posted on Tuesday — has been viewed more than 6 million times on Twitter in just days.
It’s been retweeted more than 30,000 times.
In the 18-second clip, several shoplifters run out of a Sears outpost carrying heaps of clothing. One of the thieves is lugging so much stolen merchandise that it’s barely possible to see.
As the shoplifters reach the door, an alarm goes off and there is a struggle with someone guarding the entrance before they escape, video shows.
“We don’t comment on police investigations involving our stores,” a Sears spokesperson said, per SFGATE. “We’re pleased that no associates or customers were injured during the robbery.”
Police said four women and a male whose age isn’t known stole from the mall around 5 p.m. Tuesday, assaulting but not injuring a security guard who tried to stop them, Bay Area News Group reports.
No arrests have been made in the shoplifting incident, according to Bay Area News Group.
“We are reaching out to the public for any information regarding the individuals involved in this brazen theft,” the Richmond Police Department said in a Twitter post on Thursday. “If you have information please contact Det. Shiraishi at (510) 620-6683.”
The thieves took $500 in merchandise from Sears, KTVU reports.
The video inspired plenty of commentary on Twitter.
One person wrote: “I didn’t know Sears still existed.”
As MarketWatch reported, “Viewers couldn’t resist making jokes about how ‘desperate’ the thieves must have been to swipe clothes from the struggling retailer, which is being liquidated after suffering 11 straight years of declining sales. Some 96 Sears and Kmart stores are closing, and the going-out-of-business sales were slated to begin Dec. 2.”
