Trim Pittsburgh owner Thomas West said cameras inside his East Liberty store captured one woman shoving $400 worth of merchandise into her coat while another woman distracted him.”I don’t know where she put it all,” West said. “It was almost like a magician.”West said the women walked into his men’s clothing store on Monday and split up.One woman asked him questions about sizing and moved around the store while the other pulled items from the shelves.”She rolls it up and she opens her coat and she shoves it in,” West said.When the women left, West said he knew something was wrong, so he said he checked the video from his store’s cameras, confirmed the theft, added up the loss and called police. “You almost feel violated, as a small business owner, especially, when you consider this a second home,” West said. “You work so hard as a small business owner and you want to make the holiday season great for everybody and you have people who come in and steal from you and it looks like they don’t even give it a second thought.” Pittsburgh police confirm there has been a slight uptick in thefts, such as the one reported at Trim. While they said Pittsburgh has not seen the violent smash-and-grab crimes that have been happing in other cities, they said officers will be on alert for suspicious activity in the business districts.For West, the theft is particularly upsetting, at a time when many small businesses are still recovering from COVID-19 shutdowns.”Last year was just rough, so we’re starting to get back into the swing of things, people are starting to come out, people are having fun, people are cheerful and then you get hit something like this and it’s like, ‘Come on, guys,” West said.The women, who West said stole from him, were wearing masks. He is not sure whether they are wearing them to protect against COVID-19 or to hide their identity. West is asking anyone who can identify the women from the store’s video to call Pittsburgh police.
PITTSBURGH —
Trim Pittsburgh owner Thomas West said cameras inside his East Liberty store captured one woman shoving $400 worth of merchandise into her coat while another woman distracted him.
“I don’t know where she put it all,” West said. “It was almost like a magician.”
West said the women walked into his men’s clothing store on Monday and split up.
One woman asked him questions about sizing and moved around the store while the other pulled items from the shelves.
“She rolls it up and she opens her coat and she shoves it in,” West said.
When the women left, West said he knew something was wrong, so he said he checked the video from his store’s cameras, confirmed the theft, added up the loss and called police.
“You almost feel violated, as a small business owner, especially, when you consider this a second home,” West said. “You work so hard as a small business owner and you want to make the holiday season great for everybody and you have people who come in and steal from you and it looks like they don’t even give it a second thought.”
Pittsburgh police confirm there has been a slight uptick in thefts, such as the one reported at Trim. While they said Pittsburgh has not seen the violent smash-and-grab crimes that have been happing in other cities, they said officers will be on alert for suspicious activity in the business districts.
For West, the theft is particularly upsetting, at a time when many small businesses are still recovering from COVID-19 shutdowns.
“Last year was just rough, so we’re starting to get back into the swing of things, people are starting to come out, people are having fun, people are cheerful and then you get hit something like this and it’s like, ‘Come on, guys,” West said.
The women, who West said stole from him, were wearing masks. He is not sure whether they are wearing them to protect against COVID-19 or to hide their identity.
West is asking anyone who can identify the women from the store’s video to call Pittsburgh police.
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