A man wearing an ankle monitor casually stole wine and other food items from a Target store in Chicago last week, according to reports.
In the now-viral video, the masked man appeared to walk around the store loading up his bag with stolen items as a Target security employee just followed him.
The unidentified thief later enters the wine and beer aisle and fills his already nearly full bag with a bottle of wine. The bag makes a glass-clinking sound as he continues to saunter around the store.
It is not known whether store workers reported the incident to the police or if the man got away with the goods.
The incident is only the latest in a nationwide trend of individuals stealing from stores with apparent impunity.
Thieves have also targeted more high-end retailers in recent months. In November 2021, security footage captured smash-and-grab looters stealing everything they could from a Louis Vuitton store in less than a minute.
GONE IN 45 SECONDS: See how quickly thieves swiped merchandise from the Louis Vuitton store in Oak Brook yesterday. New surveillance video below.
— Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyTV) November 18, 2021
Police are looking for tips:
630-368-8700 or [email protected]https://t.co/S91RzhqnRI Latest on @WGNNews at 4pm. pic.twitter.com/dbhsgXY2Jc
Chicago is among several cities across the U.S. to be hit by rampant shoplifting, which has led small businesses and corporations to quit doing business in the Windy City.
“We would do thousands of jobs a year in the city, but as we got robbed more, my people operating rollers and pavers we got robbed, our equipment would get stolen in broad daylight and there would usually be a gun involved, and it got expensive and it got dangerous,” said Gary Rabine, owner of 13 businesses in Chicago.
Billionaire Ken Griffin also announced last month that he is moving his hedge-fund firm Citadel out of the city, citing crime as a major concern over the past few months.
“If people aren’t safe here, they’re not going to live here,” Griffin told the Wall Street Journal. “I’ve had multiple colleagues mugged at gunpoint. I’ve had a colleague stabbed on the way to work. Countless issues of burglary. I mean, that’s a really difficult backdrop with which to draw talent to your city from.”
The city is also struggling with a violent crime surge. Chicago police reported 44 shootings with at least 61 wounded victims from 6 p.m. Friday through Monday across the recent Juneteenth holiday weekend.
