WATCH — Police: NJ Target Worker Blocks Suspects from Stealing $581 Worth of Merchandise

A Target employee thwarted alleged thieves outside the store on Monday in Gloucester Township, New Jersey.

The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. when three individuals walked into the store on Berlin Cross Keys Road, according to Gloucester Township Police.

While inside the building, the group placed a pile of items — valued at $581.29, authorities said — into a shopping cart.

The police agency continued:

The suspect with the pink coat exits the store and parks a silver Jeep SUV, with an unknown temporary NJ license plate and spare front right tire, out front of the store. The other two suspects approach the register as if they were going to pay for the items, but exited out the front doors. A Target employee then intercepts the two suspects out front, retrieves the cart and merchandise, as the suspects flee into the silver Jeep.

Police then asked viewers who might be able to identify the suspects to contact the department at 856-228-4500. Those with information can also call the GTPD Anonymous Crime Tip Line at 856-842-5560 or send an anonymous tip at this address https://gtpolice.com/tips. 

Target stores across the nation have suffered from rampant theft. In Chicago, an alleged serial shoplifter told law enforcement he was surprised store employees at the location he hit in Lincoln Park kept records of his activities, Breitbart News reported in March.

Two Target stores in California’s Bay Area have locked up many of their items to deter shoplifters. As a result, customers have been forced to wait until an employee can come retrieve items for them from the cases, according to Breitbart News.

“It comes to the point of: how ghetto does it look that they have to lock up the socks or whatever it is that they have under key?” one shopper commented.

Target planned to shutter nine of its stores in four states due to organized retail theft that made employees and customers feel unsafe, CEO Brian Cornell explained in September. The Breitbart News article noted, “All nine stores are in Democrat-run cities.”

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