Medford police charge California woman with $7000 theft at Victoria Secrets
Medford OR April 22 2018 A California woman who allegedly stole more than $7,000 in underwear and other merchandise from Victoria’s Secret was captured by Medford police after she took a cab to her motel room.
Harmonie Jewel Taylor, 25, faces two felony theft charges in Jackson County Circuit Court, accusing her of shoplifting more than $7,000 worth of merchandise from Victoria’s Secret at Rogue Valley Mall early Wednesday afternoon, then taking about $3,500 worth of items from Safeway stores later that evening, according to court documents filed in her case.
At about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, surveillance video at the lingerie chain allegedly showed Taylor filling several bags with underwear, according to Medford police.
Mall security attempted to stop her, but she was able to flee the parking lot on foot, according to police.
Taylor, who has a San Francisco address listed in court records, allegedly used a cab service to get from the mall to her motel room, court documents say. After obtaining surveillance photo stills from mall security, the cab company confirmed it gave a ride to a woman fitting Taylor’s description from the mall to the Motel 6 on Biddle Road, and motel staff identified her.
At 9:18 p.m. Wednesday, Medford police witnessed Taylor returning to her motel room via taxi, where she allegedly had in her possession two Victoria’s Secret bags filled with items taken from two Medford Safeway stores. The stolen merchandise, listed only as a “large amount of miscellaneous items” in Medford police reports, was valued at about $3,599.
Police reports show that all items reported stolen at Victoria’s Secret and the two grocery stores were recovered from a taxi and Taylor’s motel room.
Taylor allegedly attempted to provide police with a false identity before her identity was confirmed through fingerprint records, according to court documents filed in the case. She has at least one California fugitive warrant charging her with robbery out of San Francisco.
Taylor made her first court appearance Friday in the theft cases, along with the fugitive case. She remained in the Jackson County Jail without bail Friday afternoon.
A call to Medford police wasn’t immediately returned Friday, but records show that Victoria’s Secret has been a frequent target of multi-thousand dollar thefts — with most going unsolved.
In May of last year, about 130 bras were reported stolen from the store, amounting to losses valued at $7,854; another Medford case that same month reported quantities of bralettes, push-up bras and panties stolen, totaling $4,536.
Similar Medford thefts involving thieves brazenly stealing armfuls of women’s underwear have been reported since at least 2015, according to previous news stories. Medford police have noted that company policies bar employees from physically stopping shoplifters.
News stories in similar Victoria’s Secret thefts around the country also point to store layouts that place registers at the back of the store, rather than near the exit.
Mail Tribune
