Shoplifting attempt at La Cañada TJ Maxx escalates into robbery
Detectives with the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station are looking for suspects whose attempt to steal merchandise from the La Cañada T.J. Maxx department store Wednesday night turned into a robbery when they tussled with someone who tried to stop them.
Station Watch Commander Lt. Randy Tuinstra said Thursday the incident was logged as an “Estes” robbery, a designation the state of California assigns when suspects in the act of shoplifting use force against a person attempting to stop them, most commonly security personnel and loss prevention officers.
“They went in to shoplift, but on the way out they got into a scuffle,” Tuinstra said of the incident, which took place sometime around 9 p.m. “Somebody tried to stop them. But they escaped anyway.”
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Sgt. Alan Chu, a detective investigating the case, said the suspects were trying to steal purses and left several of the handbags behind when they fled the store. Details as to the number of suspects and who tried to apprehend them were immediately unknown.
Chu said the T.J. Maxx stores in La Cañada, at 663 Foothill Blvd., and at 245 N. Glendale Ave., in Glendale, have had numerous encounters with thieves shoplifting high-end purses in recent months.
“There have been a wave of them taking purses,” he said of the suspects. “They’ll go to Glendale and hit their store, then come here and hit this store.”
In one case, a Glendale T.J. Maxx store manager called the La Cañada store right after witnessing suspicious behavior among some would-be shoplifters there, in an effort to warn the La Cañada manager they might make an appearance there, too. One hour later, they did, but were thwarted in their efforts.
Chu said he wished in these situations, store employees or managers would also alert authorities, who could have potentially prevented the situation.
Anyone with information on Wednesday’s incident is asked to call Sgt. Alan Chu at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station at (818) 248-3464.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
