Missouri police are on the hunt for two teenage girls after one of them was caught on camera brutally assaulting a Walgreens employee who had tried to stop them from shoplifting.
The horrific incident happened on August 2 in the town of Independence, about 10 miles east of Kansas City.
“A company employee was attacked when they tried to intervene in a shoplifting operation,” the Independence Police said in a statement.
The images, taken by a witness in a car, show how a girl in a white shirt and a red bag throws the employee to the ground outside the store.
The girl punches the employee, who is said to be in his sixties, as she lies on the floor.
A teenage girl assaults a Walgreens employee outside a store in Independence, Missouri
Police have released footage of the suspects asking the public for help in identifying them
Another teenage girl is seen screaming in the background as the attack unfolds.
Police said the two teens had been in the store with a third teen and an adult before the attack.
When the group walked into the store, only one of the teens was wearing sunglasses.
However, when they walked out, one of the teens without sunglasses was wearing sunglasses, according to police.
The employee reportedly told the adult woman who was with the teens to pay for the item, but she refused.
The two teenage suspects then returned to the store, with one of them grabbing a Sprite and spraying it in the employee’s face.
The employee told police the teens attacked her after she blocked the Sprite.
The employee has since recovered and plans to file a report, Fox4 KC reported.
Police have released footage of the suspects asking the public for help in identifying them.
One of the women appears to be the suspect who assaulted the employee. The other appears to be the teen yelling in the background.
Police spokesman Jack Taylor told Fox4 KC the incident left him “shocked”.
The department is still investigating the incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Winborn at 816-325-7330 or call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
It comes after Walgreens’ chief financial officer told investors during an earnings call earlier this year that executives may have overestimated the impact of organized shoplifting.
Another teenage girl is seen screaming in the background as the attack unfolds
The girl punches the employee, who is said to be in his sixties, as she lies on the floor
The employee has since recovered and is considering filing a report
“Maybe we cried too much last year,” said James Kehoe.
Kehoe also said the company “probably” mischaracterized how much theft occurred in the chain’s stores and may have overspent on putting security measures in place.
Walgreens closed five stores in San Francisco in October 2021, citing organized shoplifting.
Shoplifting is at the center of political debates about crime, especially in urban areas such as San Francisco.
The National Retail Federation said the scourge of shoplifting – which got worse during the pandemic – will cost the industry nearly $100 billion by 2022.
Recent videos of brazen shoplifters have gone viral online as residents become increasingly frustrated with rising crime.
Surveillance footage shows a gang of masked thugs driving shopping carts full of high-value products out of a New York Home Depot store.
Another clip showed shoplifters loading duffel bags and backpacks with perfumes and cologne from a Ross store in Colorado.
A Ross Dress for Less manager has said thieves attack her store in Colorado up to four times a day.
Footage shot at the location shows a number of thieves storming through the store, filling bags with items before casually leaving.
Store manager Ashley Finley told CBS News, “It happens a lot. I would say this kind of incident happens four times a day.