CHRISTMAS EVE CHALLENGE

I thought I’d take a lighter note and share some post-holiday humor. It was quite an eventful end of December for me and my team. We definitely had our share of idiot shoplifters. A few stood out that really deserved to be on the highlight reel. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Every year, I make it a point to work extra hard to catch a thief on Christmas Eve. Some people call me cold, but why should I pay for gifts for someone that doesn’t want to work? They are, in fact, robbing me of my bonus! So I found myself working Christmas Eve with my top agent, at our highest shrink store. I was, in fact, stacking the deck. About noon-ish, I notice a guy practically running through the store with a shopping cart. Not too odd, given that most people are picking up last minute gifts. I watched as he loaded three motorized scooters into his cart and dashed over to the shoes. There, he asked an employee where this year’s hottest shoes were. Once shown, he threw 4 pairs in the buggy and headed to the apparel section. I stopped watching at this point and made my way around the store. As luck would have it, we intersected paths and my suspect raced down a secluded aisle. He emerged from the next aisle, as I was standing there. He rushed passed me and I noticed that his shoes were now concealed in shopping bags and he was headed to the doors. I called my agent and by the time he answered, my guy was out the door! I love a good push out.

We catch up to him under the patio and he ditches the basket and breaks out running through the parking lot. We break off and relay his direction of flight to local law enforcement. To my amazement he stops running and ducks into retailer next door. Police arrive and we both enter the store to identify him. It didn’t take long for us to find the guy, standing in the magazine section, pretending to read an upside down edition of the Times, sweating profusely, and practically wheezing.  He then tried to run from the police. Seriously, I have no idea where he got the energy… On his second run, he was (un) lucky enough to knock an officer to the ground. That officer was in no mood to run; Hunter was, though. That Belgian Malinois broke out of the patrol car faster than American Pharoah at Belmont Stakes. It was awesome. I’m also 10/10 on throwing a thief in jail on Christmas Eve. In case you were keeping score.