Police say two people arrested on suspicion of shoplifting at the Rosedale Center are connected to an organized shoplifting ring that has caused a $1 million loss at Lululemon stores across the country.
Jadion Richards, 44, and Akwele Lawes-Richards, 45, both of Danbury, Connecticut, were arrested Thursday after a Lululemon retail crime investigator notified local authorities that the pair had been seen stealing from the Lululemon store the day before at Rosedale Center.
According to a criminal complaint, Richards and Lawes-Richards were initially stopped when the security alarm went off as they left the Rosedale location. Richards claimed he was racially profiled and accused store employees of deliberately setting off the alarm. The couple was allowed to leave and the alarm did not go off when they walked out a second time.
It was only after Richards and Lawes-Richards left the premises that the officer responding to the shoplifting report realized that the Lululemon investigator had sent a text message the day before to let him know that the couple and a third person had stolen nearly $5,000 worth of merchandise had stolen from the same shoplifting. shop.
The Lululemon investigator then discovered that Richards and Lawes-Richards were at the Lululemon store in Woodbury, and Woodbury police took them into custody.
Richards declined to talk to investigators and Lawes-Richards denied being at the Rosedale location the day before. And despite Richards having a key card to the JW Marriott hotel in Bloomington, Lawes-Richards claimed they were staying with her aunt and not at a hotel.
Investigators discovered that Richards had indeed booked a room at the JW Marriott and obtained a search warrant for the room under his name. Twelve suitcases were found in the room, containing an estimated $50,000 worth of Lululemon clothing with the tags still attached, the complaint said.
The store investigator told police that Richards and Lawes-Richards had made a previous trip to Minnesota in September to steal Lululemon gear, and between the two trips they had stolen approximately $30,000 worth of items. On Nov. 13 alone, the investigator documented thefts at five different stores in the metro: two in Edina and one each in Minneapolis, Minnetonka and Roseville.
According to the Lululemon researcher, these two devised a sophisticated plan to steal items from across the country and bring them back to the East Coast to receive the value of the stolen goods on a credit or debit card.
The complaint alleges that Richards typically buys a few cheap items at the counter, while Lawes-Richards and other accomplices take items and stuff them into their clothing, possibly attaching them to their bodies with straps.
After removing the security sensors from the legitimately purchased goods, they use a device to remove a sensor from one of the shoplifting items and attach it to one of the pieces Richards had just purchased. The entire group then walks out of the store, and when the alarm goes off, Richards immediately stops and goes back to the counter while the rest walk away. Store employees then remove the security tag that the group had reattached.
The thieves later return to the East Coast to conduct unverified exchanges, where they trade the stolen items for other items that cost slightly more than the original items. According to court documents, the plan is to pay a small balance on a credit card to cover the new, more expensive total. Once these items are documented on a receipt and linked to a credit card, they will be returned for full value and placed back on the credit card.
The Lululemon investigator who worked with law enforcement estimated that Richards and Lawes-Richards returned nearly $500,000 worth of stolen items. Stores also document the value of the missing items as a loss, so the company estimates the total financial loss to be closer to $1 million.
Richards and Lawes-Richards are each charged with one felony count of organized retail theft – a new criminal charge intended to address large-scale theft schemes. If convicted, they face 15 years in prison.
Both suspects appeared in court for the first time on Monday. Their next hearing is scheduled for December 16.