Employee Theft

October 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (2)The figures for employee theft are staggering. According to a report by the ACFE the loss for fraud in a typical organization is 5% of its revenues. That amount corresponds to losses of more than $3.5 trillion worldwide.

Employee theft is an ever growing social and economical issue that is affecting everyone. The retail industry alone losses are in the billions of dollars every year. Employee theft can be done by employees with seniority or low level employees that find an opportunity to commit the crime. More than three quarters of employee theft is done by employees with no previous record, or that have not been charged with a theft related incident before. To read more about employee theft, follow the links below.

Former Barnes & Noble employee accused of stealing $46,000 in merchandise from Mandeville store

A former Barnes & Noble employee was recently arrested for allegedly stealing about $46,000 in merchandise from the store over a three-year period, Mandeville Police reported Tuesday (Sept. 30). Tomas Santamaria, 32, is accused of selling more than 700 stolen items, mostly DVD’s and novels, on eBay and funneling the proceeds into his bank account, police said.

Santamaria, of 19246 Antenor St. in Mandeville, was booked Sept. 23 with money laundering, computer fraud and theft.

An investigation began July 31 of this year after the bookstore on U.S. 190 reported a suspected employee theft, the police department said in a news release. Detectives determined Santamaria stole about $46,000 in merchandise between September 2011 and July of this year, the release said.

Retail employee accused of stealing cash over time

A retail store employee was arrested Tuesday and accused of stealing thousands of dollars from her register over a period of several weeks.

Alexis W. Causey, 22, of 507 Church St., West Monroe, faces one count of theft.

An arrest report said Monroe Police were sent to Target at 4103 Pecanland Mall Drive in reference to employee theft. Once there, an officer spoke with an employee who said Causey took $2,000 from her register from the first part of September through Monday.

After being questioned, Causey reportedly said she took the money. Causey reportedly said she would remove the cash from her register and place it in a trash can. At the end of her shift, she would remove the money before emptying the can.

A&P Employee From Ossining Charged In Theft Of Meat From Store

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. — An Ossining man was charged with grand larceny on Tuesday after he was accused of stealing goods from his employer, according to State Police from the Cortlandt barracks.

Gregory Rodriguez, 46, was accused of stealing $1,200 worth of meat from the Cortlandt A&P  where he worked, by hiding the meat on himself before attempting to leave, police said.

Rodriguez was arraigned before the Town of Cortlandt Court and remanded to the Westchester County Jail without bail. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Friday, Oct. 3, police said.

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Managing and Reducing Shrinkage

October 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (11)The retail industry according to some reports was a $2.5 trillion in 2012 with a predicted increase of 3.4% for the year 2013. As the busiest season for the retail industry is fast approaching, retail stores and businesses will be busy keeping inventory on the shelves as avid customers shop at their stores. While many retail stores prepare for this time, retail security and surveillance should be part of their strategy to keep this year the best profitable yet.

For more information about shrinkage follow the links below.

Reducing Retail Shrinkage: How to Beef Up Security and Prevent Loss in Your Store

Shrinkage (aka: Public Enemy #1 for most retailers), can eat up a significant amount of your profits. According to the National Retail Federation, retail shrinkage amounted to $34.5 billion in 2011, and a big chunk of that was due to theft or fraud.

That’s why it’s critical to constantly stay on top of protecting your store. Keep your systems up-to-date, be vigilant about spotting fishy behavior, and see to it that your staff is adequately trained to deal with security issues.

To help you do all that, below are some of the most common causes of retail shrinkage along with security tips to help you prevent them.

Shoplifting

A common problem among retailers, you can prevent shoplifting with the following steps:

1. Recognize the signs – Educate yourself and your staff on how to spot shoplifters. Keep an eye out for people who:

Survey: Retail shrink translates into $57 billion loss; cash theft jumps 20%

New York — Shrinkage levels average 1.27% of sales, which translates to a $57 billion loss to the industry, according to the U.S. Retail Fraud Survey, which is based on research into the systems and strategies used by 100 leading North American retailers.

The biggest area of store loss remains employee theft (38% of shrink), up 3% from last year, according to the study, published by U.K. based Retail Knowledge and sponsored by Volumatic and Kount. It is followed by cash theft (24%), up 20% from last year, administration and book keeping errors (21%), down 9%, and shoplifting (11%), down 15%.

The biggest area of online loss is fraudulent use of credit cards (59% of shrink).

In other survey highlights:

• Return fraud is costing retailers an average of 0.25% of sales this year, compared with an average of 0.4% last year.

• With regards to loss prevention departments, on average, each member of the fraud prevention team is responsible for $103 million of sales.

Managing Loss Prevention

5 Tips for Reducing Shrink

1. Find vulnerabilities: Take a look at your store layout as though it were in a heist film and think, “If I were to steal something, how would I do it?”
2. Determine where to concentrate your resources: Your high value items that can be stolen easily should be of more concern for you when merchandising, as well as protecting with security features.
3. Cameras don’t work unless you use them: Installing cameras isn’t enough to deter employees and serial shoplifters. If you notice discrepancies in the register or on the shelves, look at the tape.
4. Signs deter some, not others: Professional thieves aren’t likely to care much about signs (or cameras for that matter). However, employees and amateur shoplifters can be dissuaded if they know they are being watched.
5. Talk to your team: Employees need to be on the same page as their manager when it comes to a loss prevention strategy. Source: retailminded.com

 

 

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Racial Profiling In the Retail Industry

September 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment

shoplifting4According to The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention “There is no profile of a typical shoplifter. Men and women shoplift about equally as often.” And race does not matter. Men, women, teenagers and children shoplift regardless of their race or economic status. Yet, entering a store race does matter, and profiling takes place immediately. Allegations about racial profiling involving Macy’s is one of the most recent news in this country, but it won’t be the last.

To read more about racial profiling in the retail industry follow the links below for more information.

“There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me.”

                                                                                President Barack Obama

Racial Profiling
How does it make you feel when you hear the President of the United States making these remarks? Is it an accurate statement? Is it a fair statement? Is it a reflection of one man’s opinion, or an indictment of the loss prevention industry as a whole? Regardless of your personal politics, a statement made with such conviction from the leader of our country sends a powerful message—and one that deserves our collective attention.

But when the comments were made by the President and repeated over and over by the press following the Trayvon Martin verdict, the implications were accepted by the general public with very little push-back. Why is that? If it’s a valid assessment, why hasn’t it been addressed more aggressively? If it’s not a valid assessment, why haven’t we been more forward or vocal in our objections? More likely, the general response—or lack thereof—is largely a product of many factors that can complicate the subject and lead us down difficult roads. Have we done enough? Do we need to do more? It is a highly sensitive topic, but it’s one that’s not going to go away or can be buried in the sand.

Macy’s reaches agreement over racial profiling allegations

Macy’s, Inc. today issued the following statement: “Macy’s has reached resolution with the New York State Office of the Attorney General related to allegations of racial profiling in our stores in New York. We also have settled in principle various lawsuits related to these allegations.

“To be clear, our company’s policies strictly prohibit any form of discrimination or racial profiling and any occurrence of such behavior will not be tolerated in our organization.

“Moving forward, our company will be initiating a series of measures including enhanced training and education for our loss prevention and sales associates. We also will be adopting an expanded role for our security monitor to help ensure that we have the right policies and procedures in place, and that we are constantly reviewing our compliance with them.

“We at Macy’s are committed to fulfilling to the ideals of diversity, inclusion and respect that our company aspires to achieve – every day, in every store and office, with every customer and associate.

Racial Profiling

Does Profiling Exist?

The media often asks me if retail store security personnel use “profiling” tactics as a means of determining which customers are most likely to steal. The answer is undeniably, yes.

Profiling is a Tool

The concept of shoplifter profiling is a proven loss prevention tool and is currently being practiced in most major retail stores by trained loss prevention or security staff. Does that seem shocking? It shouldn’t, as long as it doesn’t include the discriminatory practice of focusing on the race of the customer alone. Profiling is used everyday as a method for quickly focusing in on a person, a product line or a section of a store most likely to contribute to shoplifting. All investigative agencies including the police, FBI, and others have used profiling as a tool to narrow the field of possible suspects. Why shouldn’t retail store security be able to do the same? Store and customer profiles are developed during day-to-day operation and by collecting and analyzing inventory data. This data provides both a quantitative and a qualitative basis for determining where, when, how, and by whom shoplifting is likely to occur in the future.

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Loss Prevention and Solutions

September 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment

shoplifting1The Holiday season does not start for some weeks yet, but if you are in the retail industry preparations for the busiest time of year begins months in advance. The retail industry loses billions a year due to shoplifting and employee theft making prevention all the more significant and solutions to decrease shrinkage pivotal in the profits and loss of a store. Read more about loss prevention by following the links below

Taking the Bite Out of Organized Retail Crime   

“Store robbers…always work in gangs of two, three, or four in number, in order that their operations may be quickly conducted… The first thing to be done upon locating in a large town or city is to select the place upon which they design to work… When they finally decide upon a store to be robbed, they are fully posted with regard to everything that pertains to the business…”

A hundred and fifteen years ago, Allan Pinkerton, America’s “first detective” and founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, penned those words in his book “Thirty Years a Detective: A Thorough and Comprehensive Exposé of Criminal Practice of All Grades and Classes”. In 2014, the tenth year that the National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted its Organized Retail Crime Survey, ORC has remained a staple of criminal enterprise in the United States, accounting for known losses in the neighborhood of $30 billion annually.

The Tactics of ORC

Organized Retail Crime (ORC) has been the bane of retailers for years and was first addressed by merchants in the late 1980s. Since then, ORC has grown into a yearly multi-billion dollar business that not only injures the retailer, but also the consumer, who has to pay higher prices. There is another loss — the one to communities in the form of lost tax revenue, which has a direct effect on state and local governments and school budgets causing a direct impact on the quality of life.

Since the early days, when ORC was first recognized, retailers have taken great steps to combat the crime. The most important step was the education of lawmakers who have passed laws across the nation combating Organized Retail Crime. Many of today’s retail trade organizations such as the National Retail Federation (NRF), the Food Marking Institute (FMI), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), along with many other organizations have taken up the fight.

BearCom Informs Retailers on How to Use Two-Way Radios for Loss Prevention

BearCom, a nationwide provider of wireless communications equipment and solutions, offered suggestions on how two-way radios can help reduce loss during the busy holiday shopping season and all year round.

Loss, also called shrink, consists of shoplifting, employee or supply fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors. According to Marianne Wilson at Chain Storage Age, “Growing shrink concerns have put loss prevention high on the agenda of retailers.”

“More than $100 billion worth of merchandise is stolen from retailers every year. That’s about 1.5 percent of retail sales, just in the United States,” said Hugh Johnston, Product & Purchasing Manager at BearCom. “The most effective way to prevent loss is to have a vigilant and visible staff in constant communication.”

Johnston gives some suggestions for basic shrink prevention that are especially important during the hectic holiday retail season:

Inconspicuous communications – When an employee needs to contact a manager or security personnel, they should do it in a way that doesn’t bring attention to the situation. Two-way radios with earpiece accessories enable quiet and discreet communication.

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Shoplifting News

September 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment

shoplifting2The people and the methods shoplifters use nowadays should not come as a surprise for any of us. From the elderly to the handicapped shoplifting is a crime that seems to have no age nor race attached to it. For a retail store, prevention seems the solution that makes sense, and can keep the store from losing its profits.

To read more about this follow the links below.

Shoplifting Suspect Shirley Mason Used Wheelchair Cart For Getaway: Cops

FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Police in Michigan say they arrested a shoplifting suspect following her slow-speed getaway in a $1,200 motorized wheelchair shopping cart taken from a Wal-Mart.

The Muskegon Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1wgjeQT ) says police located 46-year-old Shirley Mason about 2 miles away, riding the cart with $600 in clothing.

A customer called police Monday night to report someone riding a shopping cart from the lot at the store in Muskegon County’s Fruitport Township.

Police say Mason told them she couldn’t find anyone to pick her up from the store and took the wheelchair cart “because she didn’t feel like walking.”

Authorities say Mason told officers she planned to sell the clothing.

Mason is charged with organized retail crime and has a probable cause hearing Sept. 23.

Mason doesn’t have a listed phone number.

Police: Mom and DAughter caught shoplifting

HOOSICK — State Police say a mother and her 23-year-old daughter were caught shoplifting from a supermarket. Vicki Meyers, 43, and her daughter Toni were allegedly seen by employees taking items at a TOPS supermarket and hiding them in their purses. According to authorities, they left the store with more than $70.00 worth of merchandise. The pair have both been charged with petit larceny.

Teacher accused of shoplifting using child

Wesley Chapel, Florida — A Pasco County teacher has resigned from her position, accused of shoplifting and using her young daughter to hide the stolen electronics.

Friday, parents are in shock that a trusted middle school science teacher sits behind bars.

Investigators say Amanda Hammon took her three-year-old on the shoplifting spree and had the child carry her backpack stuffed with the stolen goods from a Walmart in Wesley Chapel.

Hammon was a teacher at John Long Middle School in Wesley Chapel, and now, she’s a Pasco inmate without a job.

Investigators say this wasn’t just a one-time crime. In the past week, the middle school science teacher is accused of stealing electronics from Walmart four times with her daughter in tow.

Arrest records show Hammon confessed she’s been shoplifting to support her drug habit.

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Security and Operational Compliance

September 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (4)According to the most recent articles from Loss Prevention Magazine, the three major areas where the management or owners have to be vigilant about are internal theft, external theft and operational compliance. These three security areas have to be implemented correctly and to adhere to procedures the management or security team have dictated to be successful. For more information about this and other topics follow the links below.

Security Breaches Trigger Retail’s Big Players to Call for Major Tech Changes

The possible credit card breach at Home Depot Inc. prompted the retailer to speed up its implementation of chip-reading credit card terminals. Major credit card companies, too, have announced they will accelerate efforts to bolster electronic payments security and protect sensitive customer data. These moves could have a large impact on consumer confidence, which has suffered as a spate of cyberattacks hit major companies. But for retailers especially, the implementation of the new systems will take time, and are not a panacea for a company’s security risks.

Home Depot CEO Frank Blake told investors Thursday that the retailer would activate chip-reading technology on its new credit-card terminals by the end of this year. He said the company is “working around the clock” to find a breach linked to stolen credit and debit cards,” the WSJ’s Shelly Banjo writes, but stopped short of confirming an actual breach occurred.

Building A New Defense Team

As technology draws us deeper into a new age of business enterprise, we are continuously bombarded with waves of challenges and opportunities involving those with malicious intentions. These attacks come at us from every direction as the ingenuity of these criminal minds seek new and creative ways to infiltrate our information resources and engage in cyber warfare against our businesses.

In order to survive these reprehensible intrusions, retailers must fight back. We have to defend our ground and take the necessary steps to combat the threat. This requires that we build and recruit the resources that will help us win the battles. We must become cyber warriors in our own right; defending our computer and information systems against those seeking to seize and exploit the lifeline of our business.

Operational Compliance: Inspecting What You Expect (Part 1)

The evolution of the loss prevention profession has required a change in the way that we view what we do and the way that we approach the retail environment.  First and foremost, we have come to recognize that shrink is a much more complicated problem than merely looking at the theft of merchandise.  Shrink is a very complex issue that must take in to consideration a variety of different issues that can lead to losses.  Shrink reduction is clearly seen as a vehicle of profit enhancement, and an integral part of the retail model.  Additionally, we have perspective on how we can influence company profitability in other ways as well, which has allowed us to set our sights on the bigger retail picture.  As a result our shrink management strategies require a multifaceted and broad-based approach in order to successfully design and administer the process.

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Funny Shoplifting Dog’s Video

September 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Shoplifting Dog Arrested After Dollar Store Heist

During a walk, Cato the Husky got off the leash and then later was arrested for stealing dog treats, bones, and pig ears from Clinton, South Carolina’s Dollar General Store. Police have opted not to press charges, and he was returned to his owner after a brief stint in the pound. Luckily, FOX Carolina was on the scene and obtained the store’s security camera footage of the theft in action. If you’d like to see more footage of Cato and his shoplifting, go here: http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/24152659/shoplifting-sc-husky-caught-red-pawed

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Shoplifting News and Other Stories

September 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (3)Employee theft costs the retail industry millions of dollars daily, and although the majority of shoplifters are non professionals, the monetary harm they can inflict to a business can be devastating. Employee theft can be undetected by the employer or management for months or even years, and some of the small businesses do not report the theft to authorities when the shoplifter is caught. How can you protect your business from employee theft or shoplifting?Are you doing enough to protect your business from losses? Do you need solutions for your business and don’t know where to start? call us and we will be happy to talk to you about your business needs.

To read more about shoplifting news follow the links below.

Employee at Wal-Mart in Franklin charged with theft

The Franklin Police Department received a complaint Friday about a possible employee theft at Wal-Mart.

Police were told that the employee, Timothy Youngblood, 43, who worked in sporting goods, stole about $5,000 worth of merchandise over the span of a few months, according to a news release from Franklin police.

Two Franklin officers watched store surveillance video, and officers recovered about $1,068 worth of Wal-Mart property from Youngblood’s East Cedar Street home. Police found sporting goods, tents, appliances, cookware, gourmet coffee and high-end coffee brewers.

Youngblood was charged with theft by unlawful taking over $500 but less than $10,000. His wife, Shawn M. Snay-Youngblood,

Pennsylvania’s top court rules $75,000 fine for employee’s theft at casino illegal

The state Supreme Court on Tuesday found that a mandatory $75,000 fine imposed upon a poker dealer convicted of stealing $200 from the Rivers Casino is unconstitutional.

“The fine at issue here, both in an absolute sense and in a comparative sense, is strikingly disproportionate to the manner in which other crimes are punished in Pennsylvania. That the fine is mandatory merely exacerbates the disproportion,” wrote Chief Justice Ronald Castille in the unanimous, 33-page opinion.

Matthew Eisenberg, 29, was charged with misdemeanor theft under the Gaming Act after taking $200 in poker chips from Nov. 26-30, 2010, from the gaming table where he worked at the Rivers.

Knox Trustee’s ‘ghost employee’ found guilty of theft

A Knox County jury on Friday agreed with the state: Former Trustee’s Office employee Delbert Morgan was a “mystery,” a “phantom” and a “ghost.”

He rarely if ever worked. And yet he collected almost $152,000 in salary and benefits during the four years he was with the county’s tax collection office.

The jury, after a two-week long trial, found the 58-year-old Grainger County businessman guilty of felony theft, a charge that is punishable by eight to 12 years in prison.

Morgan, who can also receive probation, will be sentenced on Oct. 23.

“He may have done a little work, but the state submits that it was bad from the beginning,” prosecutor Bill Bright told the jury during closing arguments Friday.

Fellow prosecutor John Gill agreed.

After the verdict was read, he said that Bright “did an unbelievable job making a complicated case clear.”

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Employee Theft

August 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (2)Here are some news about theft that might make you wonder how far shoplifters go to steal from your store and your business. Follow the links below to read more about these stories.

Pizza employee charged with theft

ESCANABA – A 52-year-old Escanaba woman – accused of embezzling from a local pizza business – has been bound over from Delta County District Court to circuit court where she may make a plea or schedule a trial.

Former newspaper employee pleads guilty to felony theft

A former Tribune-Herald employee pleaded guilty Monday to charges related to accusations that she stole more than $100,000 from the newspaper’s former owners.

Sylvia Susan Ancira, 52, a 16-year newspaper employee, is a former circulation accounting clerk. She was fired in July 2011 after a company audit revealed she stole $104,153 from July 2009 to July 2011.

Ancira’s attorney, David Bass, said Ancira disputes the audit figure.

He said the actual restitution amount will be determined by a presentencing report.

In a plea bargain Monday, prosecutors allowed Ancira to plead guilty to third-degree felony theft instead of a second-degree felony.

The third-degree felony alleges Ancira stole more than $20,000 but less than $100,000.

Prosecutors recommended she be placed on probation.

Ancira sold her home to help make restitution to Robinson Media Co., which sold the Tribune-Herald to Berkshire-Hathaway in June 2012.

Police have beef with shoplifting suspect

PORTLAND, Ore. — Police have a beef with a man they say stole meat worth $2,700 from three Safeway stores in Portland, Oregon.

Police say 53-year-old Barry T. Sanders was caught on video hiding meat in a shopping cart at least 13 times in July and August, then leaving the grocery stores without paying.

KOIN reports (http://bit.ly/1vhdtBU) Sanders was arraigned Tuesday on theft charges in Multnomah County Circuit Court. He didn’t enter a plea and will be assigned a lawyer on Wednesday.
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Apple Store and Iphone theft

August 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (12)All across the country carrying a smart phone is like carrying cash in your hands.   Many thieves consider a smart phone as easy to steal as snatching a purse from an unsuspected woman. Lost and stolen phones are costing the American consumer millions of dollar a year according to some recent research and according to some news smart phone theft is happening at stores as well.

Follow the links below for more information about this and other stories.

Six Apple Store employees nabbed in iPhone theft ring

Sometimes it is those on the inside that you need to be worried about the most. In Fort Lauderdale, six Apple Store employees were snagged by the cops, as law enforcement smashed an iPhone theft ring that worked out of an Apple Store at the tony Galleria Mall. The six worked together to rip off the store out of 600 iPhones, valued at half a million dollars.
The scheme involved a number of thieves who wandered into the Apple Store, pretending to be customers. In the store, these “customers” would be helped by one of the six employees in on the scam, who would exchange a stolen iPhone for a brand new unit. The Apple Store employees who helped the transactions go through, were paid between $45 and $75 per unit for facilitating the exchange.

The cops arrested former Apple Store employees Devon Persad, Daniel Michael Scotti, Adam Alvarez, Anthony Joseph Tranchida, Sadia A. Dandia, and Otis Jerrell Ferguson. A seventh person arrested was Best Buy Mobile employee Sean Flynn. Flynn provided a list of serial numbers from smartphones on the shelves at Best Buy Mobile, to the other criminals. These numbers were used on the new iPhone models stolen from the Apple Store.

The cops are looking to identify those who brought the stolen phones into the Apple Store. They are also still looking to find the buyers of the new units that the stolen phones were exchanged for. A Broward Country prosecutor says that the phones were probably sold overseas.

Ex-Fairfax Deputy Headed To Trial On Shoplifting Charges

The case of the Fairfax County deputy charged with shoplifting at the Leesburg Target store will go to trial.

Robert H. Palmer Jr., 50, of Leesburg, appeared in Loudoun General District Court Tuesday morning. Judge J. Frank Buttery Jr. set a trial date for Sept. 23.

Palmer has been charged with two counts of petit larceny under $200, a Class 1 misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

The case, first reported in May, gained national attention after Dallas Northington told The Washington Post he was fired as an assets protection specialist for Target after reporting two incidents of apparent shoplifting in which the suspect shown on surveillance tape was recognized by his superiors as Palmer, who’s worked for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office for 20 years.

Northington said he filed a complaint with the Leesburg Police Department as he did routinely in such cases. However, days later he was fired, told by his managers at Target that he had not followed company procedures.

Following the publication of Northington’s story, the Leesburg Police Department released a statement July 14 about its involvement in the case. According to the department, the initial complaint was filed at approximately 11 p.m. Tuesday, May 27. “The report was documented however, the reporting loss prevention officer did not witness the actual theft,” it said. During that investigation, “the individual involved in the alleged theft was positively identified as a Fairfax Sheriff’s Office employee.” On May 30, Leesburg investigators notified members of the Fairfax sheriff’s office about the report.

There the case stalled.

Mother leaves kids in store after shoplifting

Published on Aug 15, 2014

DELAND, Fla. (WKRC) — A Florida mother’s attempt at shoplifting ended with her running from police and leaving her children behind.

Deland, Florida police said Rebecca Stoltz went shopping at Wal-Mart with her 6-year-old daughter and 9-year-old stepdaughter. When she allegedly tried stealing $44 of clothes, she got caught by security. In the panic of getting caught, police said Stoltz ran from the store and left her children behind.

Other parents shopping at the store said they were outraged.

Police said store security found the girls and they were both, “Clearly distressed and very emotional and both were crying.” Investigators said Stoltz knew what she did because she told a friend to go pick the children up from the store.

Police eventually arrested Stoltz who faces child abuse charges.

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