GPS trackers foil $4,000 heist at West Loop Lululemon store

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GPS trackers foil ,000 heist at West Loop Lululemon store — GPS trackers foil 4000 heist at West Loop Lululemon store. Cook Coun.jpeg

Jamyah Smith, top, and Gyliah Johnson are seen with a surveillance image of the shoplifters. (Cook County Sheriff’s Office)

Women Arrested for Stealing $4,000 Worth of Merchandise from Lululemon Store

A pair of women accused of stealing about $4,000 worth of merchandise from a West Loop Lululemon store were tracked down by investigators using location devices hidden among the clothing, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

Surveillance cameras were rolling on June 12 when two women entered the store at 932 West Randolph Street, gathered armloads of bright pink and white clothing, and walked out without paying.

Store personnel notified the sheriff’s office retail theft team and investigators began tracking devices concealed among the merchandise, officials said. The signals led them to the 9700 block of South Merrill Avenue in South Deering, according to the sheriff’s office.

When investigators arrived, they saw two women exit a vehicle who matched the descriptions provided by store employees, and the Sheriff’s Police Organized Retail Crime Unit detained both women, as well as the man who had been driving the vehicle. The police allegedly recovered $4,000 worth of stolen clothing from the car.

Prosecutors charged 22-year-old Jamyah Smith with felony retail theft. Nineteen-year-old Gyliah Johnson was charged with felony retail theft and criminal trespass to property because she allegedly violated an order barring her from entering Lululemon stores. The driver was released without charges following further investigation.

Smith has been released to await trial, but Johnson remains in the Cook County Jail for violating conditions of pretrial release in a pending retail theft and aggravated battery of a peace officer case, according to officials.