Richfield officers outside a sporting goods store heard a beeping from a shoebox in a bag carried by a Minneapolis woman who had just walked out, according to the complaint.
Calisha Niepri Bryant, 37, is charged in Hennepin County District Court with felony possession of shoplifting gear (a maximum of three years in prison, a $5,000 fine or both) and felony possession of burglary or theft tools (three years, a $5,000 fine or both). The alleged offenses date to Nov. 8 and the complaint was filed Nov. 9.
Richfield police were called to Dick’s Sporting Goods at 11:58 a.m. Nov. 8 after an employee reported a woman carrying an armful of merchandise into a fitting room while holding a reusable bag, the complaint says. Another employee heard snapping sounds from the fitting room and thought someone was ripping off anti-theft tags.
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The woman came out and paid at a register for some of the items but not all she had taken in, according to the complaint. She set off the security system at the first set of exit doors, went back to the cashier and confirmed that the items she had paid for had no security tags, then left. An employee later found clothing in the fitting room and a cut-off security tag.
Officers detained Bryant in the parking lot. While she sat in a squad car they heard beeping from a shoebox in a bag she was carrying, the complaint says. Inside were a piece of clothing with an anti-theft device still on the cuff and a second device that had been pulled apart. In her purse officers found another clothing item, a magnet used to remove anti-theft devices and a pair of cutters. The clothing was valued at $280.
The magnet was an Alpha Super S3 Key, also known as an Alpha Multi Detacher, which the complaint describes as a magnetic release tool retailers widely use to unlock security tags. The complaint does not include a statement from Bryant.
