A Connecticut couple is suspected of stealing $1 million worth of Lululemon clothing

MINNEAPOLIS — A Connecticut couple has been charged in Minnesota with participating in a retail theft ring suspected of stealing about $1 million worth of goods nationwide from luxury sportswear retailer Lululemon.

Jadion Anthony Richards, 44, and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, 45, both of Danbury, Connecticut, were charged this month with one felony count of organized retail theft. Both were released last week after posting bail of $100,000 for him and $30,000 for her, court records show. They are due back in Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul on December 16.

According to the criminal complaints, a Lululemon researcher had already been following the couple before police first confronted them on Nov. 14 at a store in suburban Roseville. The investigator told police the couple was responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses nationwide, according to the complaints. They would steal items and make fraudulent returns, the report said.

Police found suitcases containing more than $50,000 worth of Lululemon clothing when they searched the couple’s hotel room in Bloomington, the complaint said.

The investigator said they were also suspected of stealing from Lululemon stores in Colorado, Utah, New York and Connecticut, according to the complaint. Within Minnesota, they were also accused of thefts at stores in Minneapolis and the suburbs of Woodbury, Edina and Minnetonka.

The investigator said the two were part of a group that usually traveled to a city and went to Lululemon stores for two days, returned to the East Coast to exchange the items without receipts for new items and took the new items back with the return receipts. for credit card refunds, then go back out to commit more thefts, the complaint said.

In at least some of the thefts, Richards would enter the store first and purchase one or two cheap items. He then returned to the sales floor where, with the assistance of Lawes-Richards, they removed a security sensor from another item and placed it on one of the items he had just purchased. Lawes-Richards and another woman then hid leggings under their clothing.

They would then leave together. When the security sensors at the door went off, he offered the staff the bag containing the items he had purchased while the women continued to walk out, fooling the staff into thinking it was his sensor that set off the alarm had set off, according to the complaint. .

Richards’ attorney declined comment. Lawes-Richards’ public defender did not immediately return a call Monday seeking comment.

“This outcome continues to underscore our continued collaboration with law enforcement agencies and our investments in cutting-edge technology, team training and investigative capabilities to combat retail crime and hold offenders accountable,” Tristen Shields, Lululemon vice president of asset protection, said in a statement. “We remain committed to continuing these efforts to address and prevent this industry-wide problem.”

The two are being prosecuted under a state law enacted last year aimed at cracking down on organized retail theft. One of the lead authors, Sen. Ron Latz of St. Louis Park, said 34 states already had retail crime laws on their books.

“I’m glad to see it working as intended to deter criminal activity,” Latz said in a statement. “This type of theft harms retailers in countless ways, including lost economic activity, job losses and threats to employee safety when crime occurs. goes unaddressed. It also harms consumers through rising costs and compromised products resold online.”

Two women from Minnesota were also charged under the new law in August. They were accused of attacking a Lululemon store in Minneapolis.