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Rosedale mall thefts: Inside job?
Merchandise and thousands in cash were seized by police, who accuse two guards of helping themselves after hours.
By Joy Powell, Star Tribune
Last update: June 08, 2007 – 10:19 PM
It was, if the allegations are true, security guards gone wild.
After their nightly rounds at Rosedale Center, at least two guards set to work with burglary tools and safe combinations, then sneaked off with cash, flat-screen TVs, skateboards, clothing, margarita makers and more, according to search-warrant documents filed Friday.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the heists, which began in October at the mall in Roseville. The guards sold some of the loot or returned it to other stores for cash; the rest they stashed in an apartment they shared and also in an apartment leased by one of their girlfriends, the documents allege.
In searches of Roseville and Minneapolis apartments and also of a car on Wednesday, police seized more than $20,000 in property.
It's believed to have come from Williams-Sonoma, Abercrombie & Fitch, Caribou Coffee, Air Traffic, Zumiez, Verizon, Foot Locker, Rosetta Stone, World Poker Store, Bath & Body Works, and Things Remembered, according to police inventories.
In his 23 years of law enforcement, Roseville police Lt. Lorne Rosand said, he has never seen anything quite like it. "I see it as a shocking event," Rosand said. "The people whom you should trust, obviously in this specific incident, you can't trust."
Charges are pending, said Jack Rhodes, chief of staff for the Ramsey County attorney's office.
He wouldn't comment further Friday evening, as the case continued to unfold.
Roseville police arrested the four on Wednesday, interviewed them and released them from the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center.
Meanwhile, prosecutors are reviewing piles of evidence, which include a wafflemaker, a panini press, sunglasses, watches and framed art.
The guards' scheme came to light May 30 after a concerned citizen called IPC International Corp., which provides shopping center security for Rosedale Center, and said two male guards were committing late-night thefts and burglaries.
Chad Potenziani, the regional manager for Illinois-based IPC, called Roseville police. Neither he nor any other spokesman for the firm, which bills itself as a leading provider of shopping center security, would return a reporter's call Friday evening.
Police soon learned that one of the suspects, a 20-year-old man, had been bragging of stealing from the stores and their storage rooms at the mall. The court documents say he boasted that he would often remove the hinge pins on doors, jimmy locks or scoot around security gates. The documents also say he boasted of how he sometimes joined the 25-year-old guard, who also stole on his own, in the burglaries and thefts.
A trunk of goods
Then on Tuesday, another concerned citizen told police that she had seen one of the guards trying to peddle Abercrombie & Fitch clothing and Bath & Body Works products out of the trunk of his car.
Many of the items were recovered from the apartment one guard shared in Roseville with a roommate.
And at the Minneapolis apartment of the 20-year-old suspect's girlfriend, the court papers say, were expensive cookware, a convection oven, vegetable choppers, clothing, cologne and dozens more items that had been reported stolen. Much of it was in the original boxes, or had price tags still attached.
In the Roseville apartment, police say they found burglary tools, nearly $4,700 in cash, bank deposit bags from Abercrombie & Fitch, a sensor-tag removal device and many other items that were believed to have been stolen.
'Upset by charges'
"We're very concerned and upset by the charges," said Donald Lantz, senior executive vice president of IPC International. "IPC and the state of Minnesota both have strict hiring criteria in place for security officer applicants, and these individuals met this criteria."
The guards have been suspended without pay, he said.
"Our first priority is to provide a safe, secure environment for mall visitors and employees," Lantz said, "and our staff at Rosedale Mall is being reinforced to ensure that service continues."
Rollin Hunsicker, mall vice president and general manager, called the case troubling. He said the investigation could potentially uncover more guards involved in such activity.
Merchandise and thousands in cash were seized by police, who accuse two guards of helping themselves after hours.
By Joy Powell, Star Tribune
Last update: June 08, 2007 – 10:19 PM
It was, if the allegations are true, security guards gone wild.
After their nightly rounds at Rosedale Center, at least two guards set to work with burglary tools and safe combinations, then sneaked off with cash, flat-screen TVs, skateboards, clothing, margarita makers and more, according to search-warrant documents filed Friday.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the heists, which began in October at the mall in Roseville. The guards sold some of the loot or returned it to other stores for cash; the rest they stashed in an apartment they shared and also in an apartment leased by one of their girlfriends, the documents allege.
In searches of Roseville and Minneapolis apartments and also of a car on Wednesday, police seized more than $20,000 in property.
It's believed to have come from Williams-Sonoma, Abercrombie & Fitch, Caribou Coffee, Air Traffic, Zumiez, Verizon, Foot Locker, Rosetta Stone, World Poker Store, Bath & Body Works, and Things Remembered, according to police inventories.
In his 23 years of law enforcement, Roseville police Lt. Lorne Rosand said, he has never seen anything quite like it. "I see it as a shocking event," Rosand said. "The people whom you should trust, obviously in this specific incident, you can't trust."
Charges are pending, said Jack Rhodes, chief of staff for the Ramsey County attorney's office.
He wouldn't comment further Friday evening, as the case continued to unfold.
Roseville police arrested the four on Wednesday, interviewed them and released them from the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center.
Meanwhile, prosecutors are reviewing piles of evidence, which include a wafflemaker, a panini press, sunglasses, watches and framed art.
The guards' scheme came to light May 30 after a concerned citizen called IPC International Corp., which provides shopping center security for Rosedale Center, and said two male guards were committing late-night thefts and burglaries.
Chad Potenziani, the regional manager for Illinois-based IPC, called Roseville police. Neither he nor any other spokesman for the firm, which bills itself as a leading provider of shopping center security, would return a reporter's call Friday evening.
Police soon learned that one of the suspects, a 20-year-old man, had been bragging of stealing from the stores and their storage rooms at the mall. The court documents say he boasted that he would often remove the hinge pins on doors, jimmy locks or scoot around security gates. The documents also say he boasted of how he sometimes joined the 25-year-old guard, who also stole on his own, in the burglaries and thefts.
A trunk of goods
Then on Tuesday, another concerned citizen told police that she had seen one of the guards trying to peddle Abercrombie & Fitch clothing and Bath & Body Works products out of the trunk of his car.
Many of the items were recovered from the apartment one guard shared in Roseville with a roommate.
And at the Minneapolis apartment of the 20-year-old suspect's girlfriend, the court papers say, were expensive cookware, a convection oven, vegetable choppers, clothing, cologne and dozens more items that had been reported stolen. Much of it was in the original boxes, or had price tags still attached.
In the Roseville apartment, police say they found burglary tools, nearly $4,700 in cash, bank deposit bags from Abercrombie & Fitch, a sensor-tag removal device and many other items that were believed to have been stolen.
'Upset by charges'
"We're very concerned and upset by the charges," said Donald Lantz, senior executive vice president of IPC International. "IPC and the state of Minnesota both have strict hiring criteria in place for security officer applicants, and these individuals met this criteria."
The guards have been suspended without pay, he said.
"Our first priority is to provide a safe, secure environment for mall visitors and employees," Lantz said, "and our staff at Rosedale Mall is being reinforced to ensure that service continues."
Rollin Hunsicker, mall vice president and general manager, called the case troubling. He said the investigation could potentially uncover more guards involved in such activity.
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