CLEARWATER, Fla. – A 45-year-old woman is facing charges after Clearwater police say she used a large magnet from Amazon to steal clothes and bags from Burlington Coat Factory.
Rebecca Fleming was taken into custody on Thursday after police initially pulled her over for a traffic stop on a warrant out of Oklahoma. During a search of her things, police found multiple items with the sensors still on and a large magnet in her bag.
Police say she confessed to using the magnet before removing security tags from stolen items. Stephen Warrior, CEO and President of Warden Protection Services, said it’s not an uncommon tactic for shoplifting.
Mugshot courtesy: Pinellas County Jail
“They steal these items, then they’ll go down to a local park and they sell those items because they have value, or they’ll go to a pawn shop and get cash for these items. This is an entire industry that exists inside not just the state of Florida but across the country,” Warrior said.
It was unclear what kind of magnet Fleming had in her possession, but Warrior believes it’s a magnet used specifically to remove security tags.
“Anyone, including myself, can just purchase this right now for $27.99,” he said. “The downside is there’s no requirement to prove that you own a retail store.”
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But as shoplifters get more creative, so do retailers.
“Far more private security cameras monitoring your locations and private security physically on location actively watching shoppers,” he said.
Some retail surveillance cameras are now equipped with AI technology.
“That actually can detect a person whose certain body movements can alert you whether it’s 80% of the time likely to be a theft,” Warrior said.
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