A 93-year-old man was targeted by a gang of three pickpockets in the parking lot of a Portland Costco and had his wallet stolen.
Clear surveillance footage sees the trio sneaking up on the elderly man as he pushes a cart back to his car completely unaware is that he is being tailed by the criminals.
Seizing the opportunity, one member of the gang reaches out his left hand and manages to grab the wallet from the shopper’s back pocket.
The gang appear to be adept at pickpocketing as the elderly gentleman is unable to detect anything going on behind him. His wallet is whipped away in an instant.
A 93-year-old man was targeted by three pickpockets at a Portland Costco
Clear surveillance footage shows the trio sneaking up on him and stealing his wallet out of his back pocket
For a moment, the man appears to sense that something has happened and turns around only to see the three men looking to cross the road.
At one stage he even pats down the rear of his pants, perhaps feeling that something is missing.
Before he moves out of the sight of the surveillance camera, the man can be seen frantically looking around for something that he misplaced.
Once the gang had made off with the victim’s wallet, they use his credit cards to purchase $1,500 in gift cards.
The elderly victim barely felt a thing as he had his wallet removed from his back pocket
After his wallet is taken, the man appears confused at pats down the rear of his pants, perhaps feeling that something is missing
The trio case the parking lot and move onto another target
Surveillance footage that lasts for more than five minutes, sees the trio targeting several other unsuspecting members of the public as they went about shopping.
The gang are seen looking for further victims as they case the parking lot.
Further investigation by the Portland police bureau revealed that the suspects had in fact carried out similar crimes in the Seattle area.
Detective Jordan Zaitz said Costco staff ‘were able to … show that it was the same group of people that had been going up and down the I-5 corridor to different Costco’s doing similar things.’
Zaitz said the group may also use other methods to steal personal information.
“I received an email this morning from Winco, and it looks like the same group … is going in and watching customers use their debit cards … memorizing PIN numbers and then going to steal their wallets out in the parking lot,” she said to KATU.
Such petty thefts will be the target of newly-elected District Attorney Nathan Vasquez who is promising a tough-on-crime approach to the city.
Portland’s progressive District Attorney Mike Schmidt, who is the prosecutor for Multnomah County, conceded victory to Vasquez after his policies were blamed for ruining the city.
Schmidt was elected May 2020 just before the death of George Floyd and the riots that pulverized cities across the country.
He vowed not to prosecute rioters unless there was evidence of ‘deliberate property damage, theft, or threat of force, and of 550 cases referred by police just 47 went to trial.
Portland DA Mike Schmidt promised ‘equity focused’ policies after his 2020 election
Challenger Nathan Vasquez has unseated him after promising a tough on crime approach
Drugs deaths in Portland surged from 280 in 2019, to 628 in just the first six months of last year
Homelessness jumped by 65 percent to more than 6,300 from 2015 to 2023
Oregon became the first state to decriminalize possession of all hard drugs in 2020 and Schmidt raced to implement the measure several months before it took effect statewide.
But fatal opioid overdoses surged from 280 in 2019, to 628 in just the first six months of last year as nearly 800 homeless encampments and open-air drug markets sprang up in the city center.
More than 2,600 businesses had fled the city center by September 2022 as shoppers avoided downtown areas and retail theft began to spiral.
‘What I hear when I’m knocking on doors, is ‘Hey, I consider myself very liberal but this is out of step — we’re not getting served well’,’ Vasquez told Politico.
‘People definitely want public safety. It doesn’t mean people are wholly abandoning the idea of criminal justice reform. They just want it delivered in a pragmatic, practical way.
‘It’s pretty clear I’m the only candidate in this race who is consistently in the office prosecuting serious cases, standing up for victims, and providing the present, dedicated leadership that my fellow prosecutors need day in and day out.’
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