Police probe thefts at Southern Park Mall

Staff report

BOARDMAN

Police are investigating two similar thefts from the Southern Park Mall with the value of stolen merchandise estimated at more than $6,000.

The manager of Gap in the mall, 7401 Market St., told officers that 48 pairs of pants valued at $2,702.67 were stolen around 6:30 p.m. Monday, according to reports.

The person or persons who stole the pants appeared to have four accomplices, two males and two females, who entered the store separately and distracted employees in the children and adult sections of the store, police said.

The pants were stolen from a front display table, reports stated.

Police said the theft is similar to a recent incident at Abercrombie and Fitch, also in Southern Park Mall.

That theft occurred around 3:15 p.m. Friday with two men stealing 36 1.7-ounce bottles of Fierce cologne valued at $1,944 and 29 shirts valued at $1,972, according to reports.

An Abercrombie and Fitch employee told police that two men carrying large shopping bags walked into a store while she was helping a woman choose clothes. The employee said she noticed the men standing near the the cologne and shirt display and that the woman attempted to lead her farther into the store, police said.

The two men ran out of the store without purchasing anything and holding their bags over their heads, and shortly after that, the woman stopped talking to the employee and “calmly walked out of the store without buying anything,” reports stated.