Tredyffrin Township police warn of rise in pickpocketing
TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- Police in Chester County are sending a warning to shoppers amid an increase in so-called distraction thefts. It's when customers take their eyes off their valuables while talking to someone, and a thief snatches the customers' wallets.
Police say this is likely happening all over Chester County. Two of the thefts happened at T.J. Maxx.
Tredyffrin Township police are searching for these five so-called pickpockets.
Lieutenant Tyler Moyer describes how they work.
"People are acting as teams where one individual engages a person in casual conversation, distracting them from their belongings and the other individual reaching into their purse or handbag and taking their wallet out," Moyer said.
Lieutenant Moyer says there have been six to eight thefts like these within the last three weeks. He says one happened at ACME on Leopard Road in Paoli, and the others were at Panera Bread, T.J. Maxx, and Trader Joe's in the Gateway Shopping Center.
"I was shocked," Miriam Bell said. "I didn't know that was happening around here."
Police are investigating whether all five are connected and by the time victims realized their wallet was missing, the thieves were long gone.
"They're going to local businesses such as Target, Walmart, places like that or they go over to King of Prussia Mall and they charge up as much as they can with those credit cards," Moyer said.
Police recommend outsmarting thieves by hanging your purse over your shoulder, not putting it in your shopping cart or on the back of your chair. Lock your credit card with your bank's app as soon as your purse or wallet goes missing, and be vigilant.
"I always try to have an eye on what's in front of me and really know my surroundings and what I have and what I can lose," Katie Willis said.
T.J. Maxx and Walmart released a statement saying that it's aware of the incidents that happened and it regrets those customers' experiences.
From T.J. Maxx:
"We are aware of the recent incidents that occurred in our Wayne location. The safety of our customers and Associates are top priorities, and we regret our customers' experiences. We will continue to cooperate with the Tredyffrin Twp Police Department during its investigation, and as this is a matter of law enforcement, we will respectfully defer any further comment to the TTPD."
From Walmart:
We make every effort to give our customers a safe experience and are continuously reviewing and improving protocols to better protect them from these and other consumer-related crimes.
Anyone with information related to the identity of the individuals pictured below is asked to contact Detective Dan McFadden at 610-408-3649 or via email at dmcfadden@tredyffrin.org.
