The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a string of thefts that occurred at two yoga apparel stores in Old Town this past fall.
The suspects of three Old Town thefts reported between Sept. 30 and late last month have stolen thousands of dollars in merchandise from yoga clothing retailers Alo Yoga and Lululemon on King Street. The incidents are being investigated in connection with other recent thefts in the D.C. region.
The most recent theft happened at around 2 p.m. Nov. 29, when two women wearing all-black outfits and surgical masks walked into the Alo Yoga store at 814 King Street and left with more than $6,000 worth of merchandise minutes later. They departed in a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with a third, unknown suspect in the driver’s seat.
The car had a temporary paper tag and left the city on Duke Street, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit. Alo’s manager took a photo of the fleeing vehicle, and police found that the temporary tag was expired and belonged to another vehicle.
The black Jeep was involved in several other thefts around the region, APD found. According to the search warrant affidavit:
In one of the thefts, the suspects stole a piece of merchandise that had a GPS tracker on it, and multiple agencies coordinated to stop the vehicle. A stop was attempted by MPDC (Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia), but the vehicle fled. Eventually, the vehicle was located, abandoned on Penn Randall Place in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The suspects removed the paper tag and any stolen merchandise from the vehicle and still had the GPS tracker in their possession. The tracker pinned to an area in Suitland, Maryland.
In Suitland, police found the Jeep and an Infiniti G37, the latter of which bore the expired paper tag. Inside the Infiniti, officers found in plain view “a large quantity of apparel still bearing store tags, to include at least one article of Alo clothing,” according to the search warrant affidavit. Both vehicles were impounded.
Police also reported that several suspects operating a black Jeep Grand Cherokee committed grand larcenies from two separate Lululemon locations between Sept. 29 and Oct. 7.
- On Sept. 29, suspects entered a Lululemon at 20334 Exchange Street in Ashburn at around 5:15 p.m. and stole merchandise valued at more than $10,000
- On Sept. 30, two women in dark athletic clothing walked into the Old Town Lululemon at 700 King Street at around 3 p.m. and stole more than $3,300 worth of merchandise
- On Oct. 7, a man wearing a grey fedora, black framed glasses with yellow lenses, and black athletic clothing entered the Old Town Lululemon at around 7:15 p.m. and took more than $2,200 worth of merchandise
The Old Town Lululemon has been something of a hot spot for theft over the past few months. During a separate incident in September, more than $5,500 in merchandise was stolen from the location.
Earlier this year, four women were arrested and charged with shoplifting in Maryland were linked to the theft of thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from the same store.
Anyone with information on these incidents can contact the APD non-emergency number at 703-746-4444. Callers can remain anonymous.
Photo via Google Maps.
