The township police department is seeking the public’s assistance as it investigates individuals who stole clothing from the Philadelphia Premium Outlets Saturday afternoon and who may be linked to an organized retail theft crime ring.
Police Chief William J. Albany said Banana Republic’s loss prevention officers discovered the theft after noticing a number of clothing items were missing and went back through surveillance footage.
When the store’s officers reviewed the footage, they found three men placed numerous items of clothing into shopping bags while a store employee was distracted by a woman, Albany said.
In total, 55 pieces of clothing were taken, valued at $3,647, during Saturday’s theft.
The individuals seem to be a part of an organized crime ring that targets Banana Republic stores in outlets across the mid-Atlantic region, including in Tannersville, Pa., and northern New Jersey, Albany said.
Albany said the individuals fit the profile of other people who have struck other stores, but the department does not have an exact number of people involved with the group, just that they have surveillance footage of eight other people.
“They seem to be well organized,” Albany said.
The items that were stolen, including blouses, shirts and pants, are supplied to boutiques in New York City. A recent raid on a Queens, N.Y., clothing store recovered $328,712 in stolen retail clothing, $79,925 worth of it from Gap, he said.
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