LATHROP, Calif. — Retail thefts in California are hitting new levels and big cities aren’t the only ones feeling some pain.
The growing city of Lathrop is cracking down with dozens of arrests after hundreds of reports of theft. The Lathrop Police Department says they have taken 205 reports and made 26 arrested associated with retail theft since June last year.
One recent incident leading to an arrest came from an officer on his first day.
“It just makes the whole department feel kind of energized, right, with a new person coming in, and contributing to the team right away,” said Lieutenant Tracie Shea,
Officer Justin Sangster was out on patrol with his training officer when they responded to a call of two women from Oakland who allegedly robbed the Lathrop Target off Interstate 5. They had made off with about $1,400 of merchandise.
The two were tracked down and arrested after officers found a gun in their car. They were booked into the San Joaquin County Jail.
“Even though it's just shoplifting, we're really happy and proud that we were able to stop them and recover [the gun] and get that off the street," said Shea.
Another recent instance left two adults arrested after police got reports from the same Target of nearly $1,600 worth of Lego sets and alcohol was taken.
According to the National Retail Federation, about 70% of stores are seeing increase in incidents and a majority of the time they're by repeat offenders.
