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Cross dressing shoplifters lead police on chase www.privateofficer.com
Police pulled over a car that was believed to be involved in a shoplifting incident at a Walmart. When the officer got out of the police vehicle, the suspect car rammed the cruiser and sped off according to the Asheville Police Department. The suspect car crashed on U.S. highway 25 near the intersection with Highway 414.
One suspect was found on the ground and two other people were trapped in the car. All three suspects were taken to a hospital. Their conditions are unknown.
Asheville Police say Alvin James Ray, Jr., 23, Tremain Allen Lucas, 19 , both of Asheville and Chester Dean Ray III, 18, of Arden were in the car.
All three have been suspected as cross-dressing as they committed shoplifting crimes in both Carolinas. Spartanburg Police released surveillance video of the suspects from T.J. Maxx at the Dorman Centre.
Asheville Police say the three stole TVs, computer equipment and video game systems from Best Buy and Target stores in Asheville over the past several months.
Alvin James Ray, Jr. has active warrants for one count of misdemeanor larceny, two counts of felony larceny, one count of simple assault and three counts of failure to appear for driving while license revoked.
Lucas is charged with three counts of misdemeanor larceny, two counts of failure to appear on charges of misdemeanor larceny and two counts of felony larceny.
Chester Ray III was out of jail on bond after surrendering to authorities in Buncombe County on February 1. He’s charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny and two counts of felony larceny.
Shoplifter beats security agent with night stand www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifter beats security agent with night stand http://www.privateofficer.com
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Authorities arrested a 19-year-old Dover woman after a shoplifting incident gone bad. Police said that the suspect is accused of attacking a store security agent after trying to steal numerous pieces of clothing and trying to flee from security.
According to store security at the TJ Maxx on US 13, Samantha Spruance of the 3000 block of McKee Road was caught taking the clothing at about 6:30 p.m. Friday and security attempted to stop her from leaving the store according to Lt. Steve Getek, a Dover police spokesman.
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Shoplifter crushed to death after hiding in compactor www.privateofficer.com
Shoplifter crushed to death after hiding in compactor http://www.privateofficer.com
Authorities say 26-year-old Tyree Monique Tate and her sister were caught shoplifting monday at the Lansing Mall’s T.J. Maxx.
Eaton County Undersheriff Fred McPhail says the women then sprayed security guards with mace and fled, running across Saginaw Highway. Tate’s sister was caught; Tate found a hide out.
“She apparently jumped into a trash compactor after she had fled from the security guards at T.J. Maxx,” McPhail says.
And it was in that trash compactor, behind Goodwill on Saginaw, that Tate was crushed as she hid from the law.
“They had an employee go out to cycle the compactor,” McPhail says. “I don’t know if they heard a scream or not.”
There are warning signs all over the trash compactor, telling people to keep out and do not enter. Tate wasn’t in the compactor for very long, only a few minutes, but it was long enough to cause major damage.
“Who’d think you’d jump into that and within a few minutes someone would come in and come outside and cycle the trash,” McPhail says, citing this as being one of the most tragic, peculiar cases he’s seen in 20 years of law enforcement.
Tate eventually died from her injuries early Tuesday.
Ingham County Medical Examiner Dr. Dean Sienko reviewed the autopsy results and said that “the cause of death was multiple crush injuries,” Sienko says, also saying he’s never seen a death with these type of circumstances.
Tate’s distraught family declined comment Tuesday at her Delta Township apartment. Her death is likely too much to bear and too painful to imagine.
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Traffic jam helps police nab fleeing shoplifters www.privateofficer.com
Traffic jams help police nab fleeing shoplifters http://www.privateofficer.com
Police were chasing the two men from the Spring Valley Marketplace when the driver turned onto the New York State Thruway during rush-hour Tuesday evening.
With traffic at near standstill and with one patrol car behind and one at the exit ahead, the suspects were trapped.
“As they entered the Thruway they were caught in traffic,” Spring Valley Detective Robert Bookstein said. “They saw the police cars coming and stopped. They had no place to go.”
Charged with felony counts fourth-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property were Lucas Restrepo, 29, of 580 59th St. in West New York, and Telmo Moreira, 22, 1301 51st St., North Bergen.
Both men were accused of stealing 22 designer bags valued at $2,787 from the TJ Maxx store, Bookstein said.
They were accused putting the designer purses in a lead-lined bag, through which anti-theft devices cannot be detected, Bookstein said.
Police recovered bags made by Juicy Couture, Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole, Dooney & Bourke and other brand names, Bookstein said.
The store’s security alerted police, but the two men took off in a car, Bookstein said. After a short chase down Route 59, the men looped around Old Nyack Turnpike and got onto the Thruway.
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TJ Maxx employee fired for blowing whistle on lax security www.privateofficer.com
TJ Maxx employee fired for blowing whistle on lax security http://www.privateofficer.com
TJX Companies, the mammoth US retailer whose substandard security led to the world’s biggest credit card heist, has fired an employee after he left posts in an online forum that made disturbing claims about security practices at the store where he worked.
Security was so lax at the TJ Maxx outlet located in Lawrence, Kansas, that employees were able to log onto company servers using blank passwords, the fired employee, Nick Benson, told The Register. This policy was in effect as recently as May 8, more than 18 months after company officials learned a massive network breach had leaked the details of more than 94 million customer credit cards. Benson said he was fired on Wednesday after managers said he disclosed confidential company information online.
Other security issues included a store server that was running in administrator mode, making it far more susceptible to attackers. He said he brought the security issues to the attention of a district loss prevention manager name Allen in late 2006, and repeatedly discussed them with store managers. Except for a stretch when IT managers temporarily tightened password policies, the problems went unfixed.
“I was basically hitting a glass wall,” said Benson, a 23-year-old freshman at the
University of Kansas who worked at TJ Maxx beginning in October 2005. “Not one single thing was done. My store manager even posted the password and username on a post-it note. I told her not to do that.”
So last August, Benson took to Sla.ckers.org, a website dedicated to web application security, and began anonymously reporting the shoddy practices in an online forum. Over the next nine months, he left eight posts in which he chafed at the password policy and what he should do about it.
“I am not sure if this is just an isolated incident within this specific store, but it goes to show that you can’t trust a company to protect your information, especially TJX,” Benson wrote under the moniker CrYpTiC_MauleR. “Today was a very sad day for me =o(“
A TJX spokeswoman declined to comment for this story and turned down our request to discuss the company’s policies for passwords and other security matters.
Benson’s May 8 posting was prompted by news that managers had changed the password for employees to access the store server. Inexplicably, it was set to blank. When Benson first began working for TJX, his password was the same as his user name, he said. Then came word in January 2007 that unknown hackers had brazenly intruded on the company’s network over a 17-month period. For a time following the disclosure, TJX employees were required to use relatively strong passwords. The change to a blank password clearly represented a step backward, Benson thought.
The posts eventually caught up to Benson. On Wednesday, while marking down items on the TJ Maxx retail floor, he was summoned to the store office. Inside, a regional loss prevention manager told him his critiques had come to the attention of the company hired to monitor internet postings about the retailing giant. The manager told Benson he was being fired for disclosing confidential company information.
No one at Slackers.org was willing to defend TJX or the shoddy security practices it is accused of following, but some have questioned Benson’s decision to speak so openly.
“I would assume your disclosure of your company’s inner server workings on the internet means that they can’t trust employees to protect their information?” one forum participant wrote in a response to Benson’s posts.
But critiques like that seem to overreach. Benson’s disclosures weren’t specific enough to give attackers information needed to successfully breach TJX’s networks. And when you consider the right of TJX’s customers and employees to know that their data may be at risk, it’s not unreasonable to call him a whistleblower.
For Benson’s part, he has no regrets. “They’re telling the public they’re PCI compliant,” he said, referring to so-called payment card industry security rules governing businesses that accept credit and debit cards. “That I think is unethical.”
But he says his actions were also fueled by a healthy dose of self-interest.
“My information is still on that server,” he continued, referring to the machine that sits in an office at the TJ Maxx where he once worked. “So if their network is insecure, then my information is insecure. I’d prefer they get it fixed.
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Fleeing drunk shoplifter crashes by; Rick McCann www.privateofficer.com
FLEEING DRUNK SHOPLIFTER CRASHES by; Rick McCann www.privateofficer.com
AIKEN S.C. NOV. 13 2007
Two men traveling in a vehicle that has been linked to a string of shoplifting in the Aiken area were arrested Sunday after they were involved in a fatal collision on Belvedere Clearwater Road in Burnettown, officials said.
Bryan J. Gregory, 20, of Seymore Drive in North Augusta, is charged with one count of shoplifting.Jesse Lackes, 29, also of Seymore Drive in North Augusta, is charged with shoplifting third offense or more. Police said more charges may be pending.
A third man, also an occupant in the Subaru involved in the crash, was taken to the Medical College of Georgia immediately after the collision.He had not been charged at presstime, police said. The man said to be driving the vehicle, Morgan Harris, 18, of Fir Street in North Augusta, was killed in the crash, officials said.
About two hours before the crash, an Aiken Public Safety officer investigating a shoplifting at a Southside retailer took a police report that four men were in Ross Dress for Less and had stolen several items valued at several hundred dollars and then jumped into a late 1990s Subaru with a paper license plate.Public Safety dispatchers broadcast an all-points bulletin for that vehicle, but officers were unable to find the Subaru at that time, according to police.
The officer was later contacted by the police dispatcher who said the suspect vehicle had been involved in a crash.The Subaru was reportedly seen speeding south on U.S. 1 when the driver lost control of the vehicle after striking another vehicle, causing the Subaru to run into the median, overturning several times and coming to rest on the northbound side the road.Police met with the men involved in the crash and questioned them about the shopliftings, according to reports.The 29-year-old admitted to stealing the items, police said. He said he also took perfume from TJ Maxx, police said. Inside the vehicle, an officer also reported finding a number of stolen items from Target.Police found two flat-screen televisions and an MP3 player from the retailer.
Toxicology is pending on the driver.Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton said alcohol is suspected to have been a factor in the crash.
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T.J. Maxx Security Officer Killed by; Rick McCann www.privateofficer.com
T.J. Maxx Security Officer Killed On The Job by; Rick McCann http://www.privateofficer.com
PITTSTON, Pa. October 31, 2007 11:40a.m. est
BREAKING NEWS-We have just learned that a security officer was killed this morning and are still gathering information and will post it as soon as we have further details. This is what we know so far.
A security guard is dead in an accident involving two trucks at a distribution center in Luzerne County.
State police say one truck stopped at the security gate as it was leaving the TJ Maxx Distribution Center on Tuesday at the Grimes Industrial Park near Pittston.
The driver of the truck could not get its doors open.
A second truck stopped and the driver got out to help.
Police say one of the trucks then started to roll and hit the security guard at the gate, killing him.
The guard’s name was not immediately released.
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