Couple arrested after allegedly stealing $1 million worth of merchandise from Lululemon stores

A Connecticut couple has been charged with stealing $1 million worth of merchandise Lululemon stores in at least five states.

The New York Times reports that 44-year-old Jadion Anthony Richards and 45-year-old Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards of Danbury, Connecticut, have both been charged with one felony count of organized retail theft in connection with a series of crimes that began in September.

The two were believed to be part of a shoplifting operation, according to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota. They were arrested at a Lululemon store in Woodbury, Minnesota, just one day after they stole 45 items worth nearly $5,000 from a Lululemon location in Roseville, Minnesota.

According to court records, the couple, who began stealing from Minnesota stores in Minnetonka, Edina and Minneapolis, as well as other locations in New York, Utah, Colorado and Connecticut, had more than $50,000 worth of Lululemon merchandise at the time. of their arrest at their hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota.

The way their theft worked, according to an investigator, would be that Richards would go buy one or two items at a store. The couple then removed a security tag from another item and attached it to one of the items Richards had just purchased. They then also placed merchandise under their clothing.

When the Lululemon location’s alarm went off, Richards would show employees what he had just purchased. While this is happening, a third person who would be with them would leave with what they stole. The next step in the process would be to go to another store and exchange the clothes without a receipt.

After trading the clothes for new items, they made sure that what they bought was slightly more than the value of what they stole, forcing them to pay the difference and then receive a receipt for their (now) purchase. Then they went to another store and returned the items to receive a full refund.

According to court records, Lululemon estimates that the company lost nearly $1 million dollars as a result of these thefts.

Both Richards and Lawes-Richards face up to 15 years in prison and a $35,000 fine.