Screenshot from Fox 5 News

Radian Apartment complex at 9th and G downtown,

On October 5, when news broke of Target deciding to discontinue opening a 36,000-square-foot store in the Radian Apartment complex at 9th and G downtown, most San Diegans online agreed with the decision.

"I think it was smart for them not to open the location downtown," Delaina Brungardt commented to me over the weekend. "Considering what is going on with locations currently open. Most violent crimes, except murder, are no longer jailable. People are given a free pass on crimes they may feel like committing."

At the North Park Target an employee stood next to the thieves while they bagged the liquor bottles.

Will, who requested to be referred to only by his first name, has seen the free passes firsthand, which Brungardt spoke of.

Last month, while shopping at the North Park Target on University Avenue, Will "witnessed four Hispanic males approximately 25 to 30 years of age set down a large Costco blue plastic shopping bag and begin to fill it with the most expensive 750 ml. bottles of tequila from the shelves, plus vodka."

Then, a Target employee stood next to the thieves while they bagged the liquor bottles as Will watched. But the big-box-store employees didn't intervene and watched the theft go down as the four guys walked out with one Target worker walking alongside them.

The solo thief quickly moved throughout @UltaBeauty and filled her bag with merchandise.

Will continued, "After speaking with a gentleman with security on the back of his shirt, he told me that the four guys came and did the same thing earlier in the day. Like all of the stores in San Diego, the store policy is to not interfere with the theft and allow them to leave peacefully."

Will is a part of the Report Crimes page on the NextDoor app. The group has 6,000-plus subscribers and " connects neighbor to neighbor and keeps you informed of local crimes and events."

On the hyperlocal Report Crimes page, Will noticed that the "thievery is occurring every day all across San Diego at every type of store, and all of the thieves know that they will not be stopped when walking out."

Jen V., a digital marketer from Santee, corroborated Will's words. Recently, she watched folks loading up shopping carts at Lowe's and taking off without paying. "I have previously consulted with employees at Lowe's and Bed Bath & Beyond to gain insight into their perspective on the situation," she said in an interview with me over the weekend. "It appears thieves target merchandise valued at less than $950, as it is typically treated as a misdemeanor offense."

On September 26, Target released a press release stating that they closed nine stores in the Bay Area, New York City, Seattle, and Portland. "We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests and contributing to unsustainable business performance." 

Jen agreed with the safety part. "It seems more cost-effective for the large retail stores to allow such thefts rather than risk legal repercussions stemming from injuries that may occur during intervention."

But rather than shut down our countywide Targets, the stores, including the one in Grossmont Center, are locking up products. "I was in the household essentials area and saw that the laundry detergent is now in locked cabinets," San Carlos local Shari M. posted on the NextDoor app. "I asked a sales associate why, and he said there have been too many thefts. I tend to be a quick shopper, and having to wait for someone to unlock the cabinet so I can buy laundry supplies is going to slow me down." Besides electronics, another popular item Targets are targeted for are baby formula canisters. So the baby food is under lock and key behind a glass; other Targets have alarm sensors attached to the baby food packaging.

Some on TikTok are video-ing when stealing, then posting the loot or experience afterward. Or, as AshleyHerrnandezz on TikTok admitted in December, 2021, "Stealing from Target for years and thinking nothing of it" in a 6-second video garnered 1.4 million likes. She added that Target was "compiling a whole case against me over the years and letting me steal $3,000, so they can actually send me to jail.”

AshleyHerrnandezz on TikTok

Jimmy Corsetti, a former corporate fraud investigator turned YouTuber, said in a recent Joe Rogan interview that nail polish was the most shoplifted item in Target.

"When people feel it's normal not to pay, yes, it's gonna happen," said Jen, who commented earlier.

And you'd figure people getting filmed looting would deter them from committing crimes; quite the contrary.

In June, DaygoTV posted a video on their Instagram account depicting two people haphazardly emptying two shopping carts of clothing and accessories and loading them in the trunk of a vehicle. An alarm was blaring in the background while the person filming the video said, "Bro, they just hit a lick on Burlington [on Clairemont Boulevard] — that shit's so funny." 

In March, I reported about Diana Llamas, who filmed and posted a video on TikTok of a person allegedly stealing a bottle of Chance Chanel Eau Tendre from the Ulta Beauty store at The Plaza at the Border mall in San Ysidro.

Llamas said the "solo thief quickly moved throughout @UltaBeauty and filled her bag with merchandise. The security guard quietly watched as he followed her around the store. Customers paused their shopping and witnessed this woman in action." Within the 1200 comments under the viral post, TikTok users condemned the security guard for not doing anything; one wondered why the $100 Chanel bottle wasn't locked up.

Scott Swiderski commented online, "I just had a crazy idea! What if we lock up the thieves instead of the products in the store!"