front of her eyes, Cervantes said she could do nothing but watch and make sure they didn’t try to steal.
A surveillance video showed one of the women sitting on a cushion seat near a display of designer jeans.
The suspect then stood up quickly and snatched a $200 pair before running out the door along with her accomplices. The video showed that a man accompanied the suspects.
Cervantes believes she had seen the women in the store before.
The boutique has experienced numerous shoplifting incidents since it opened in the spring, losing several thousand dollars worth of dresses and jeans.
In order to address the situation, Cervantes added security tags to all merchandise, hired an extra sales associate and finally installed a security camera about a week ago.
The same group of women is believed to have targeted Clever on Main, a boutique located just a few doors down from Life/Style and across the street from LF.
Owner Radka Opalka said several female shoppers came into her store about four to six months ago, browsing the back of the boutique where there was a stack of orange T-shirts. The T-shirts disappeared after the women left.
She never reported the case to the police. Opalka said she fears the incidents could disrupt the trusting, comforting and open nature that define a small boutique, the thefts possibly forcing owners to install cameras and affix security tags to merchandise, similar to the corporate stores.
“The boutique is not Macy’s or Old Navy, it’s a different feeling and people who steal from that can take away that feeling,” she said.
The Santa Monica Police Department responded to the report at Life/Style and are still processing the incident, according to Sgt. Renaldi Thruston. A connection between the cases at the different stores has not yet been made.
Harper Lane, a children’s boutique, was almost a shoplifting victim about three weekends ago, though co-owner Stacy Bernstein said she believes it involved a different set of women.
The owner confronted the women just as they were about to attempt the theft. Bernstein rummaged through one of their bags and found a pair of jeans that she knew were from Life/Style.
One woman appeared to be in her late 30s, the other in her 50s. “(The thefts) are definitely putting us a little on edge,” Bernstein said. “For many of the merchants, it’s just them or an employee so this certainly iterates that we should have two people here at all times.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 5, 2008. Read the original PDF.