LP Worldwide: Man uses crowbar in brazen jewelry store theft [Viral Video]
CCTV has captured the moment a man stormed a Melbourne jewelry store with a crowbar. Video shows the hoodie-wearing offender entering the Hampshire Road outlet in Sunshine about 2.20pm last Friday. He is shown tucking his right arm underneath his jacket in a bid to conceal a crowbar. Moments later, he takes out the weapon and begins smashing the glass cabinet at the front of the store. He then grabs thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry and flees the scene on foot. The robber, who remains on the run, is described as about 165cm (5′ 4″) tall and aged in his 40s. Investigations are ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. [Source: Nine News]
Police search for suspect who robbed; threatened LPA
Investigators from the San Diego Police Department’s Robbery Unit are asking for the public’s help in locating an unknown suspect wanted for a commercial armed robbery of a Target store located in the Mission Valley area of San Diego. On March 25, at approximately 10 p.m., a loss prevention associate (LPA) noticed a male inside the Target store located at 1288 Camino Del Rio North. The LPA recognized the male from previous encounters. As the LPA was monitoring the male, he saw the male grab three memory cards and attempt to remove them from their security cases. The male then went to the bedding area of the store and used a towel to conceal the cases. The male then removed one of the memory cards and placed it inside his pant pocket. The LPA confronted the male. The male placed the towel on the ground and walked towards the exit. The LPA followed the male. As the male was near the exit door, he pulled out a folding razor knife from his waistband and told the LPA to stand back. The male left the store and was last seen getting into an early 2000’s gray Cadillac CTS. The suspect is described as a White male, approximately 28-years-old, 6”0” tall, 170 lbs., wearing a tan colored long sleeve dress shirt, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. Anyone with information on the identity or location of the suspect is asked to call the SDPD’s Robbery Unit at (619) 531-2299 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477. Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to an arrest in this case. [Source: KUSI News]
A middle school teacher tried to shoplift; She blames opioids
A Daytona Beach, Florida, middle school teacher stole items from a Target store and trafficked drugs, police said — and she doesn’t even remember the arrest. Kimberly Vicars, 46, of New Smyrna Beach, took more than 32 different items last Wednesday from a Target store, according to Daytona Beach Police department arrest records, and tried to hide them in Target tote bags. A loss prevention associate saw Vicars taking clothes, toiletries and other items, which totaled roughly $522.25, and exiting the store without trying to stop at a cashier of self checkout lane. The officer stopped Vicars and contacted police, according to the arrest report. A police officer arrived and arrested Vicars, who teaches eighth-grade language arts at David C. Hinson Sr. Middle School. After searching her purse, the officer found an Advil bottle with 5 Hydrocodone 325/10mg pills. The officer then found another Advil container with 21 pills also determined to be Hydrocodone 325/10mg. In addition, the officer identified another pill in that bottle as Carisoprodol 350 mg, which is used to treat muscle spasms, according to the arrest report. Vicars also had a pill bottle with her name and prescription for Carisoprodol. After searching some more, the officer found a third pill container with three more Hydrocodone pills. In total, the officer found 29 hydrocodone pills, weighing 12 grams; 4 Carisoprodol 350mg, weighing .02 grams; and small pieces of green and orange pills that weren’t identified. Vicars told The Daytona Beach News-Journal that she’s been suffering from chronic pain because of of two car crashes that led to three neck surgeries. She wasn’t able to provide the arresting officer with a prescription for hydrocodone, the police report read, but she told The News-Journal that she has one to help cope with the pain. She said she didn’t know that keeping the pills in an Advil bottle was illegal under state law, which defines trafficking as possession of more than 4 grams of hydrocodone, a schedule 2 controlled substance. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Bon-Ton may be headed for liquidation after losing key bid condition
Bon-Ton Stores’ lifeline may have slipped through the bankrupt retailer’s grasp. A federal bankruptcy judge on Wednesday rejected a $500,000 fee that Bon-Ton requested to pay a group of investors interested in buying the company out of bankruptcy to keep it operating. A spokesperson for Bon-Ton did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The fee was included in the letter of intent signed by the investor group, made up of financial firm DW Partners as well as real estate firms Namdar Realty Group and Washington Prime Group, which operate malls in which Bon-Ton is a significant tenant. The retailer disclosed the potential bid on Monday. Kelley Cornish, a partner with Paul Weiss, representing Bon-Ton in its bankruptcy case, said at the hearing the fee was to help the investor group recoup their costs of due diligence and was necessary to secure the bid, according to an audio file of the hearing. Steve Zelin, a partner with investment banking firm PJT Partners working on the department store retailer’s restructuring, said at a court hearing Wednesday that no other interested parties had received such reimbursement. Cornish described the bid from Namdar and Washington Prime as “the last and only opportunity for the debtors to continue operating in business.” [Source: RetailDIVE]
Man charged in store robbery that injured LP
A White Lake Township, Michigan, man who robbed a Hartland Township store and injured employees who tried to stop him has been charged in the incident. Sean Thompson, 39, was arraigned Monday in 53rd District Court in Howell on charges of unarmed robbery and retail fraud. According to a Livingston County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies responded at about 5:17 p.m., April 7, to the Rural King store at 10400 Highland Road. Store employees reported that a man, later identified as Thompson, was observed attempting to conceal an unknown item in his coat. The employees pursued Thompson into the parking lot and tried to restrain him for suspected retail fraud, but he escaped and fled in his vehicle. It was not immediately clear how many employees were involved, but all sustained minor injuries and did not seek immediate medical attention. Thompson was later located by sheriff’s office deputies, who were assisted by the White Lake Township Police Department. Thompson posted bail on a $5,000 cash surety bond. The incident remains under investigation. [Source: Livingston Daily]
That’s all folks! Alabama becomes 50th state with breach notification law
On March 28, 2018, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill that made Alabama the 50th and final state to enact a consumer data breach notification law. Prior to the signing, Alabama had been the last remaining state without such a law after South Dakota passed its data breach law last month. So what do you need to know about the new Alabama data breach notification law before it takes effect on May 1, 2018? In addition to notification requirements, the new Alabama law also includes provisions requiring covered entities and third-party agents to employ and maintain “reasonable security measures” and document destruction protocols. Under the new law, some of the reasonable security measures covered entities and third-party agents must implement and maintain to protect Alabama residents’ personally identifying information against unauthorized access would include • Designating an employee(s) to coordinate the entity’s security measures; Identifying internal and external risks of a security breach; Adopting appropriate safeguards to address identified risks and assessing the effectiveness of such safeguards; Retaining service providers that are contractually required to maintain appropriate safeguards for sensitive personally identifying information, and keeping management, including the board of directors, appropriately informed of the overall status of security measures. The law also includes a disposal provision that requires covered entities and third-party agents to take reasonable measures to dispose of any records containing sensitive personally identifying information when the records are no longer needed pursuant to “applicable law, regulations, or business needs.” In general, Alabama’s new breach notification statute is similar to those of other states. But, as always, if you find yourself in a situation where you have to interpret these requirements, you should enlist the help of experienced and knowledgeable data breach and privacy attorneys. [Source: Thompson Coburn LLP]