Must be something in the air lately where everyone wants to be a part of this year’s World Series games in some way shape or form. At least that’s all I can come up with to explain the behaviors of our latest shoplifter. The story starts out like any other typical liquor store shoplifting situation.
We were watching a suspicious person in the liquor store the other day. He was walking around and picking up seemingly random liquor bottles. I say seemingly random because he didn’t seem too interested in what the bottle actually was. He was more interested in what our employees were up to.
He would pick up a bottle, look around, see if anyone was watching him, and then set it back down. Sometimes the employees were paying attention, and sometimes they were not. Either way, the suspect would put the bottle back on the shelf, and then go to a different aisle of the store. After several times of this, we knew that we needed to watch him and see what was going on.
The suspect finally made his way to the back of the store. He started pushing a few of the display tables closer together, narrowing the gap between them. He went back to the main sales floor aisles and started to slowly pull down one liquor bottle after another. He would ferret the bottle back into the space he created in the back of the store and then go back for another bottle.
After he had built up enough of a cache, the suspect went back behind the tables. We thought that he might try to conceal several of the bottles and walk out without paying for them. What he actually did was try to open the bottles up, because he was just going to drink from them inside the store.
We routinely use the Alpha Security EASy Bottle for our Bottle Locks to prevent theft and in- store consumption of the liquor. Because of these locks, the suspect was having a hard time opening the bottles. He tried prying the locks off, banging on them, twisting and turning. Obviously nothing was working out for him, and he was starting to get agitated. We decided it was time for us to step in.
We made our approach and calmly explained whom we were and that it was best if the gentleman quietly left the store. Instead of picking himself off the floor and leaving, the man picked up two of the liquor bottles. That’s when he became even more agitated and started swinging the bottles like baseball bats at us. We quickly stepped back to avoid being hit.
We called the police and let them handle the situation from there. While we never expected it to come down to a physical altercation, we later found out some of this man’s background. After the police made their apprehension, they let us know that this was one of their “regulars”. This man had a long history of drug and alcohol related problems. He was badly in need of a drink, which is why our bottle locks aggravated him so much.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.
For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Lock, Bottle locks, Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
