NORTH PORT, Fla. – A call about shoplifting at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in North Port ended in a big bust. Four were put behind bars after a car full of stolen merchandise was found.
The North Port Police Department said the women had a plan and the tools to carry out the crime.
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What we know:
The call came in Sunday night to North Port police for shoplifting at the Cocoplum Village Shops off of U.S. 41.
“Officers quickly realized it was maybe a little bigger deal, that there were multiple people involved,” said Josh Taylor, the chief of staff with NPPD.
Officers found four women scattered throughout the plaza, along with a gray Chevy Malibu loaded with stolen merchandise from the plaza and other stores out of the area.
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“It was clear they had made their way through our area, from our North working their way down doing this similar type of activity at various retailers in the region,” said Taylor.
Police arrested 37-year-old Jessika Bridges of Tallahassee, 48-year-old Tammie Harrell and 52-year-old Dale Connor of St. Petersburg, along with a juvenile.
Why you should care:
North Port police said surveillance footage showed them all working together to steal hundreds of dollars’ worth of merchandise from stores like Dicks Sporting Goods and Bath and Body Works.
“They hit up a number of Stanley cups, which are popular out there, grabbing high dollar socks, grabbing perfumes,” said Taylor.
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The women face a number of charges, including petit theft and criminal conspiracy.
“Many of them have previous charges for this type of activity. Some of them were even found with anti-theft removal tools to get those tags on clothes. Those are additional charges. Some of them are felony charges, some of them are misdemeanor,” said Taylor.
North Port police said their actions impact the entire community and our wallets.
“At the end of the day, we all pay for that. We all pay for the cost of things, stores understand they will have some sort of loss, so prices go up. If a lot of these people put in the time that they do in committing these crimes into doing something productive in our society, they’d probably be better off,” said Taylor.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from arrest records and the North Port Police Department.
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