$500,000 in Merchandise Found in Home : Store Security Guard Arrested in Shoplifting

A Kensington woman who nabbed shoplifters for seven years as a La Jolla department store security guard was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of stealing merchandise worth more than $500,000 in a series of thefts that police said could date back as far as 1979.

Eileen Ford, 32, who works for Robinson’s at University Towne Center on La Jolla Village Drive, was detained for police by fellow security guards about 9 p.m. Wednesday after store officials had witnessed her on hidden store cameras allegedly trying to shoplift, said Bill Robinson, police department spokesman.

She was booked on three counts of burglary and one count of receiving stolen goods, he added.

Store officials told police Ford had been seen shoplifting by the hidden cameras three times in the last week, Robinson said.

An all-night search of Ford’s home by police, who had obtained a search warrant, revealed that the security guard may have been quietly stealing a variety of items from the store since her first days at Robinson’s in 1979.

Police suspect that Ford may have been stealing many of the items by hiding them in her undergarments, Robinson said.

About $15,000 worth of merchandise was found in Ford’s car and an additional $500,000 worth of furs, jewelry, expensive perfumes, teddy bears, skirts, blouses and robes were jammed in the bedroom of her house on Hilldale Drive.

“There was a dress in there with a price tag dated 1979,” Robinson said. “It cost $700 at that time (according to the tag).”

Most of the items still had the price tags on them and some of them were beginning to show the effects of time, Robinson said.

“Investigators said some of the stuff in there was starting to mildew,” he said.

Ford was taken to Las Colinas County Jail in Santee, where she spent the night in jail and was released at 1 p.m. Thursday on $6,000 bail, jail officials said.

Some employees at Robinson’s expressed disbelief that Ford had been arrested, describing her as an open and friendly person with an engaging personality.

“I’m shocked,” said one retail salesman who declined to be identified because Robinson’s officials had told employees not to comment.

“I was with her last night . . . I would have never guessed it because she is a very nice person,” he said.

Officials from Robinson’s refused to comment.

Police spokesman Robinson said it is unusual for security guards to be accused of shoplifting, and Ford’s case is even more unusual given the circumstances.

“I’ve been here 12 years, and I’ve never heard of anything like this. . . . Usually, security guards don’t become involved in stuff like this,” Robinson said.

Ford could not be reached, and family members at her home refused to answer questions, saying only that Ford wasn’t home.

She is scheduled to be arraigned early next week, Robinson said.