5 Young Boys’ Parking Lot Sale of Garfield Dolls Ends in Arrest

Five suspected thieves, ages 10 to 13, discovered a new method of stealing Garfield the Cat dolls and were arrested for their trouble, Los Angeles police said Monday.

There have been dozens of smash-and-grab thefts of the $20 stuffed Garfield dolls from cars in the San Fernando Valley in recent months.

But police said the new suspects didn’t bother stealing the dolls from cars.

“They found a new method,” said Detective Robert Uber. “They went and took them from a store that sells them.”

Police said the five boys were arrested Sunday after spending the day selling Garfield dolls in a parking lot outside the Panorama Mall. Uber said the dolls apparently were shoplifted from a store inside the mall.

Still, the boys’ exploits weren’t the latest chapter in the fad of stealing the dolls.

In a San Fernando Municipal Court parking lot Monday, the window of a parked pickup truck was smashed and the Garfield--which was suction-cupped inside--was stolen. The victim was Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Pamela Davis-Springer. No arrests have been made.

“It’s some kind of fad,” said Lt. Rico Castro of the San Fernando Police Department, which is investigating that theft. “But I don’t get it. It seems pretty silly.”

The first arrests in the Garfield crime wave came a month ago. Three teen-agers were arrested in North Hollywood in connection with 30 such thefts. Police said those suspects had stolen the dolls for their girlfriends.

The suspects arrested Sunday had a more commercial interest. Police said they were reselling the dolls for $2 or $3 each to shoppers entering or leaving the mall.

Uber said police were called to the mall about 7 p.m. after security guards had detained the boys. The guards had watched them sell Garfield dolls in the parking lot and then enter the Broadway department store, where they attempted to take $171 worth of clothing, according to Uber.

When police arrived, Uber said, they found much of the clothing and three Garfield dolls stuffed in bags the boys carried. He said the dolls had been taken from another store in the mall. Authorities have not determined how many Garfields the boys sold in the parking lot before being arrested.

The boys were placed in the custody of juvenile authorities.