By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
HEIGHTS — Police responded to Walgreens, 5709 S. Telegraph Road, Jan. 15 for a call on a man who had left the store with $641 in stolen merchandise.
The manager said an employee called her on the in-store walkie-talkie and advised her a retail fraud had just occurred which she saw after reviewing store cameras.
The manager said a man entered the store through the front doors, walked behind the checkout counter, grabbed four cartons of cigarettes and placed them in a red square container that had already four cartons of cigarettes in it.
He then grabbed the red container, walked past the point of purchase and ran outside to a parked U-Haul truck. He opened the passenger side door, sat inside, and the truck took off in an unknown direction.
Police spoke to the employee who said she only saw the man from the corner of her eye exit the store with the red container. The eight cartons of stolen cigarettes were valued at $641.34.
The thief was described as a black male wearing a black baseball hat, white T-shirt, black jacket with white stripes on the arms, dark jeans and a blue face mask.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])