Crime & Safety
Birmingham Police Investigate Rash of Downtown Thefts
Items were taken from several downtown Birmingham shops, from Bec and Sam's to Backcountry North, in two separate incidents last Saturday.
Several suspects are wanted in connection with a string of thefts at various Birmingham shops along Maple Road last Saturday.
According to Birmingham Police Cmdr. Terry Kiernan, police are investigating two separate incidents, during which merchandise was taken from Bec and Sam's, Anthropologie, Beauty by RX, the Spice and Tea Exchange, Sweet Thing and Backcountry North.
Dearborn Heights woman believed to be behind string of thefts along Maple
In the first incident, police are searching for a 33-year-old woman from Dearborn Heights with several outstanding warrants from Birmingham and other area police departments. The woman is also believed to be connected to several other retail thefts in Birmingham.
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According to police reports, the thefts occurred sometime between 11:25 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. last Saturday, Oct. 27. The woman was first noticed at Bec and Sam's, where she paid with a check. An employee there called the bank to verify the check after the woman left and discovered it was fraudulent.
The employee found the woman at Anthropologie, and employees there searched the woman's bag, finding merchandise that had been taken from Anthropologie, the Spice and Tea Exchange, and Beauty by RX.
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The woman managed to elude store employee and fled the scene in a car. Later, police discovered the woman had also taken merchandise from Sweet Thing earlier that day.
Jacket taken from Backcountry North, police believe suspects involved in other thefts
A second retail fraud incident occurred later that Saturday, around 1:45 p.m. at Backcountry North. According to police reports, store employees noticed two suspicious-looking women standing next to a Patagonia jacket near the front door.
After the women left the store, employees discovered the jacket was missing. The woman were described as weighing around 200 pounds and were between 5-foot-2-inches and 5-foot-5-inches in height. Both were wearing dark-colored clothing.
Police believe the women are connected to a credit card theft at J. McLaughlin on Oct. 14 as well as several other thefts in the area.
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