Good job, this story was the number 3 story on my daily suggested Medium AI story list yet I think it's the first one I happened to notice. Hmm.
Why do some people dress like they are on lunch break from pole dancing in the grocery store? It's possible they have a clever way to shoplift right under the cops noses as the cops were otherwise preoccupied. Check the surveillance videos since it sounds like a clever modus operandi to me. :-)