TV swipe scam at Encinitas Rite Aid

Just before 10:00 a.m. on May 8, the Rite Aid store at 439 Santa Fe Drive lost a $300 TV set to a shoplifter. The man, described as a tall Caucasian, inquired about the item, which was displayed behind a sales counter.

A Hispanic female, who wanted to ask some questions in the hair-care section, distracted the clerk. After talking to the clerk in the hair-care aisle, the woman left the store, only to pull her car up outside, just to the left of the store’s front door. The man grabbed the TV set and ran out of the front door and threw it in the vehicle’s truck bed.

The clerk ran outside to see if she could get a license-plate number of the getaway vehicle, but it had no license plates.

The Rite Aid/Vons shopping center sits just west of I-5 and has easy access to the freeway. Late last year, the store lost several thousands of dollars in cosmetics in a 3:00 a.m. heist when four suspects ran in and grabbed everything they could. Since then, the 24-hour store has had evening security posted at the front door.