PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. – Police are working to identify ten male suspects caught on camera stealing more than $30,000 worth of merchandise from The North Face store at the Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets in Wisconsin.
Pleasant Prairie Police Chief David Smetana said the mass theft happened in about 30 seconds on the evening of July 1, when ten people walked into the store and nine of them grabbed as many items as they could carry before fleeing.
"This was an organized group. They had planned this out, they had traveled to this outlet knowing which stores they were going to hit," Smetana said. "This isn’t a group of ten people walking by a store and coming up with an idea to hit it."
Investigators are now examining surveillance video from inside and outside of the store -- hoping to get better identification on the suspects.
"We’ve seen it before. Not to this level, in my recent history," Smetana said. "Through the work of our detectives in contacting other agencies and other stores they’ve seen recently, they’ve seen similar attacks go on at these stores."
Officials said the employees at the store did not confront the suspects.
"They got on the phone right away and advised the Pleasant Prairie Police Department that there was an incident at the store," Smetana said.
Smetana says they are investigating whether the group is linked to other similar robberies in the area.
"It really is a matter of a number of people coming in, overwhelming a staff of employees," Smetana said.
