Two Minnesota women have been charged with organized theft after they reportedly directed another woman to steal more than $5,000 worth of merchandise from a Lululemon store in Minneapolis.
According to court documents, Lululemon investigators noticed a high number of thefts at the downtown store and identified a suspect after speaking with employees and reviewing surveillance footage.
The suspect, who has not been charged, took a bag from the store, stuffed it with other stolen items and left the store without paying.
According to the complaint, investigators placed GPS trackers on several bags in the store and were able to track the suspect.
According to the criminal complaint, the woman took the stolen merchandise to Diamond Nail Salon near Crystal, Minnesota, then left the salon without a bag but “with a large amount of cash in hand.”
When police arrested the suspect, he told them he had been approached by a woman named Van who worked at the salon to steal some clothes.
The suspect offered to pay Vann $400 for the clothes he stole.
Vann would then remove the security tags and resell the stolen items, she said.
The suspect claimed to have conducted at least 100 transactions with Van.
A tracking device showed the stolen items were left at the salon for several hours before being moved closer to the roommate's home, according to the complaint.
Officers said they saw Vann coming out of the nail salon carrying a large plastic garbage bag.
Minneapolis police officers pursued the two women, 56-year-old My Hoang Thi Van and 24-year-old Cathy Nguyen, who lived together. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Around the time the shoplifters were arrested, officers surveilling the roommate's home observed two women and a man “rapidly removing numerous items contained in white plastic bags from the residence,” the lawsuit states.
According to the criminal complaint, officers found “numerous white plastic bags containing stolen Lululemon merchandise” and security tags at the defendant's home.
The total value of the stolen clothing is still unknown, but the criminal complaint states the stolen goods are valued at more than $5,000.
