LAWRENCE: Department store security officer injured in scuffle with shoplifters

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
LAWRENCE — A J.C. Penney department store loss prevention officer suffered minor injuries when she was struck in the face and chest by two shoplifters as she tried to stop them outside the store shortly before 4 p.m. March 31, according to the Lawrence Township Police Department.
The two shoplifters escaped without the merchandise, but not before striking the loss prevention officer and fleeing on foot through the Quaker Bridge Mall parking lot. The recovered merchandise was children’s clothing, valued at $647.
The loss prevention officer saw a man and a woman, each carrying a J.C. Penney shopping bag that appeared to be stuffed with items, enter the women’s fitting room, police said. She thought it was suspicious that a man would be going into the women’s fitting room, and decided to investigate.
She saw the man and the woman leave the fitting room, but the man was now carrying a large Foot Locker store bag and the woman was carrying a large Nordstrom Rack store shopping bag. Both bags were full of items, police said.
The loss prevention officer followed them as they left the store without paying, and tried to leave the mall through the Brio restaurant hallway, police said. She identified herself as a loss prevention officer and tried to stop them, but they refused to comply.
The loss prevention officer grabbed the shopping bag from the man, who struck her several times in the face with his hand, police said. He began running down the hallway from her.
She then confronted the woman shoplifter and tried to take the shopping bag from her. As she was attempting to retrieve the shopping bag, the woman struck her in the forehead and chest. She let go of the bag and ran down the hallway toward her accomplice, police said.
The loss prevention officer chased the two shoplifters into the parking lot, police said. The man ran north in the parking lot toward the lower level entrance of the department store, and the woman ran west toward Brunswick Pike.
The loss prevention officer continued to chase the woman shoplifter toward the Outer Ring Road, where she was picked up by the man, who was driving a turquoise or light blue two-door car. The car was last seen headed north on Brunswick Pike.