GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Retailers across the country, in a nonstop battle trying to stop shoplifters who are part of an explosion of retail thefts, said the shoplifters are becoming more brazen and more violent.
Case in point — in Gwinnett County, a week ago.
Authorities said it was a potentially fatal attack at the Home Depot on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in the Norcross area on Sept. 23.
The Gwinnett County Police Department said that around 1 p.m. on Saturday, four shoplifters not only ran off with hundreds of dollars worth of power tools, but they also attacked a 66-year-old employee — knocking him over and inflicting a severe head injury.
And that’s in line with a frightening trend. Gwinnett County Police released photos Thursday of the four people they are trying to find— two men and two teens—a boy and a girl.
Police Corporal Ryan Winderweedle said Thursday that they all got away in a dark grey Chrysler 300.
“It appeared to be a coordinated effort amongst these individuals,” Winderweedle said. "And during the process, when an employee attempted to intervene or stop them, they assaulted that employee and caused an injury that resulted in them being sent to the hospital for a couple days.”
Shoplifters across the country have become more violent just in the past year as they grab and run, according to a report from the National Retail Federation.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association has been compiling videos of the attacks, documenting case after case of shoplifters assaulting anyone in their way.
Within the past year in metro Atlanta, police reported that shoplifters actually set fire to three big box stores — two Walmarts and a Target — to distract store security officers from catching them stealing merchandise.
Target just announced that it is closing nine stores nationwide in high-crime areas. Home Depot and other retailers work with law enforcement and lawmakers to combat organized retail crime.
Home Depot’s headquarters in Atlanta emailed this statement to 11Alive Thursday evening:
“Organized retail crime is an ongoing issue, and it has been on the rise over the last several years for many retailers. We have multiple initiatives in place to fight it, including using human and technology resources to make theft in our stores more difficult, maintaining close partnerships with law enforcement and working with federal and state task forces to fight this problem.
The INFORM Consumers Act was a great first step in tackling this issue by removing the cloak of anonymity that professional shoplifters hide behind when re-selling stolen merchandise on online marketplaces. Now, Congress and states must focus on three paths forward: first, enforcing the new law of the land, second, creating capacity for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute cases through funding federal, state and local task forces and third, educating law enforcement and prosecutors on how to partner with retailers to combat dangerous criminals and organized crime.”
Gwinnett County detectives are asking for the public’s help in this most recent case, asking anyone with information to contact police before the shoplifters strike again and possibly attack someone else.
Anyone with information to share in this case, please get in touch with GCPD detectives at 770-513-5300. To remain anonymous, tipsters should contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or visit www.stopcrimeATL.com. Crime Stoppers tipsters can receive a cash reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment in this case.”