Helpless employees look on as shoplifters stroll out of Lowe’s with loaded carts

Theft no longer carries any risk with it, at least not in predominately Democrat-run states and cities. Recent months have seen an uptick in shoplifting in some localities, as supposed lower-level crimes are routinely ignored by leftist prosecutors and lawmakers. In yet another unsurprising viral video, shoplifters at a Lowe’s hardware store in Oregon were shown casually marching out of the store with two shopping carts’ worth of merchandise. The incident unfolded in broad daylight on Aug 25th, and employees were helpless to stop them.

“It was so blatant, that’s what riled me up,” Keizer, OR. resident Andrew Sullivan, who filmed the incident, told the Keizer Times. “They were just strolling through the parking lot, just riding the carts.”

Sullivan, who is an electrician, noted that the duo stole filled the two carts with Romex wire at around $450 a spool. Keizer Police Lt. Andrew Copeland said that the men would presumably strip the Romex wire and sell the valuable copper found inside. He and Sullivan both estimated the stolen wire to be valued at around $2000.

A Lowe’s employee standing at the door asked the men to show their receipt as they approached, but they ignored her and kept on moving. Another Lowe’s employee is then seen approaching the men in the video, to which the first employee said, “Hey don’t do this. It’s not worth it.”

“I think these guys have done it before because they seemed to have a good system. One guy with the car and two guys with the carts. They knew no one was going to touch them,” said Sullivan, who also recorded the men loading a red Subaru with the merchandise.

Sullivan was able to capture the license plate on camera and a police investigation is now ongoing. Lt. Copeland noted, however, that in Oregon many jails aren’t taking offenders such as shoplifters in order to cut back on their populations during COVID-19.

Copeland also stated that Lowe’s did not call the police until the following afternoon. He said that the police first need a victim to investigate a crime.

“In order for us to arrest someone, we have to have a victim. If Lowe’s chooses not to report it, we can’t do anything,” Copeland said.

He said the offenders would likely face fines, citations and then be released.

“Once you’ve stolen from Lowe’s once and know they can’t stop you, there’s no real consequence,” Copeland said, noting employees at many chain stores aren’t allowed to stop shoplifters. “Second thing is, these people know they can’t go to jail.”

In a recent and similar instance this summer in – you guessed it – California, two men in a Los Angeles suburb were seen on camera brazenly leaving a TJ Maxx store with their arms full of shoplifted items.

“They didn’t even run out, they walked out,” Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Jerretta Sandoz told CBS LA of the incident in July. “And so, that’s sending a message that we, the criminals, are winning.”

Employees at TJ Maxx are told not to confront shoplifters, and Sandoz said she blamed the incident on Prop 47, a 2014 referendum that lowered criminal sentences on crimes such as shoplifting.

“If they’re caught, they’re probably given the equivalent of a traffic ticket,” she told the outlet. “So it’s not taken seriously.”

Copeland said that Sullivan did the right thing by not physically confronting the thieves at Lowe’s, and that his video has helped police identify tattoos on the suspect and registration tags on their car, though there appears to be little confidence in the Keizer community that much will change for the better.

Reactions on Twitter were mixed:

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