Photo: CBS 12
We have the latest on the investigation into a robbery caught on video this week.
It shows four females, ages 17 to 19, running out of a Jensen Beach store with over $3,000 worth of stolen merchandise in their arms. But they were busted while driving away because a police officer happened to be nearby and soon there were three different law enforcement agencies involved in their captured.
Turns out, the suspects had driven up from Broward to pull off the heist.
“They’re not young, naive kids anymore. These are educated criminals that are moving into our area. These criminals are not afraid of loss prevention officers. They’re not afraid of people. They’re coming in in broad daylight, grabbing these items, running past the detection scanners at the doorways and jumping in their cars and taking off.”
Martin County Chief Deputy John Budensiek says this may have been the work of a retail crime ring.
"They’re targeting different types of materials and equipment. We’ve had marine thefts, we’ve had alcohol thefts, this recent one was at Dick’s Sporting Goods."
This is a problem that's been happening nationwide, specifically at Dick's. The retail chain reports that theft is the reason that they saw a 23 percent decline in profits, despite a 3.6 percent rise in sales in the second quarter.
We hear about shoplifting in other states, where the suspects go unpunished. Budensiek says that won't happen here.
“Good luck because we’re going to track you down and wherever you came from and we’re going to arrest you, and the state attorney here is going to prosecute you, and the judge is going to put you away. We’re not going to tolerate that."
He credits the South Florida Task Force, which includes deputies from Palm Beach County, with helping to lock up these types of crooks.