CSI - LBS style!

Is there anyone out there who doesn't understand that a sign saying "Electronic Surveillance in Use" with a picture of a security camera means "Smile and don't EVEN think of stealing anything"?

Obviously, as a friend said, you don't have to be smart to be a crook.

We were robbed a week ago. Nobody was hurt and they didn't even steal from the cash register or anything dramatic. What was stolen was the Breast Cancer 3-Day donation jar with between $50 and $100 in it! I don't know for sure, because I don't remember how much was in it the last time I counted. YES - I *know*, I SHOULD have thinned the cash and put some in an envelope in the safe, but I didn't.

In the 5 years we've been doing this, we've NEVER had a donation jar stolen. The guy who took it came in with a woman and I asked him a couple of times if I could find something for him. He even sat in the comfy chairs in the findings room for a while. The most aggravating part is that because it was warm in the store, I even gave him and the woman with him an ice cream bar and then he goes and steals from me!!! THE NERVE!!!

I have gotten so used to the jar being "right there", I didn't even notice it missing until Weds. morning when I was talking to a customer about HER fundraising for a 3-Day walker. I told Mike to check the video and I called AJPD, who sent an officer out to take the report. In reviewing the video, we not only caught the thief in the act, we also got a good photo of HIM, including a very prominent tatoo!

The PD arrested him that night on an unrelated charge. When the officer on our case spoke to him, the crook confessed to stealing the jar. He's up for his preliminary hearing for the store burglary on Thursday morning. You bet I'm going to be there - I intend to prosecute and combining this with the other arrest, he'll be going away for a while!

I replaced the stolen jar with my old reliable pink piggy bank (taped securely to the desk), so if you have any extra change, we'd love to use it to fill his tummy!