Apparent shoplifters seem unconcerned about being arrested and one recently spoke to the New York Post after ransacking a drug store in Manhattan.
The store is getting ready to shut down due to rampant crime, the outlet reported Wednesday.
The Rite Aid on the corner of 8th Avenue and 50th Street in Hell’s Kitchen is scheduled to close its doors February 8 because of pilfering, according to store sources claiming thieves have taken over $200,000 worth of items in the previous two months.
One of the outlet’s reporters followed an alleged thief at the store recently, and witnessed the man load four cases of beer into a bag at the rear of the business and walk out without paying for them.
A guard with the label “SECURITY” on his shirt reportedly watched as the man exited, but did not do anything to apprehend him.
“Sometimes I feel bad for these guys in charge, you feel bad for the security guys,” the alleged thief told the reporter.
“I know I do wrong,” he continued, adding, “If they tell me put it back, I put it back.”
However, they almost never demand he replace items or stop him, according to the man, who is a native of Senegal and resides in the Bronx.
He reportedly works as a union painter.
The man said he was on his way to enjoy the beer with someone in the area, noting he had been stealing from businesses such as Rite Aid for months, yet had never been taken into custody.
Meanwhile, actor Michael Rapaport recorded a theft inside a Rite Aid located in New York’s Upper Eastside as a security guard watched, Breitbart News reported on Tuesday.
Store workers told the Post they were instructed to tell customers the company had decided to “cut costs.”
“They come in every day, sometimes twice a day, with laundry bags and just load up on stuff,” one worker recalled as two others agreed. “They take whatever they want and we can’t do anything about it. It’s why the store is closing. They can’t afford to keep it open.”
There has been a rise in shoplifting in New York City and police say they have not witnessed such levels since 1995. In other places across the country, organized retail crime is also on the rise, CBS New York reported Wednesday:
Democrats’ state bail reform laws made it much easier for criminals to take a variety of products, including bottles of wine, toothpaste, and mascara.
“Theft of anything under $1,000 is considered a misdemeanor, and unlikely to result in much more than a slap on the wrist,” the Post report said.
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