The suspected crook made off with high-priced merchandise while the store was open and in broad daylight. The whole thing was caught on camera and the retailer is using that surveillance video to ask for the public's help.
The surveillance footage shows the man grabbing a $2,000 computer from a major retailer in northeast Fresno Monday evening and then taking off through the emergency exit doors. On the other side, a waiting car. "And at the same point he got to the emergency exit door, a car sped up and he bolted out the door and threw the merchandise inside the vehicle and sped away," said an undercover lost-prevention agent at the retailer. He did not want us to reveal his name or the name of the store to protect his identity and the integrity of the store.
The retailer has a powerful surveillance system that captures every customers' move. It's that high tech setup that allowed store security to zoom in on their suspect. "We will see you," said the undercover agent. "It's just whether or not we see them at the time they do it."
Those same cameras caught the man again. This time, running out of the emergency door at a neighboring business last week. The suspect got away in an orange Ford pickup truck. "He's been very active using multiple vehicles. All the vehicles are late model cars or trucks and they all have paper plates on them," said the agent.
Retailers are spending millions of dollars stocking up on surveillance equipment, hoping it pays off. Agencies like the Clovis Police Department are utilizing surveillance footage by posting suspects' images on its Facebook page -- asking the public for help.
It's an effort retailers hope keeps crooks away from their stores. "We're just hoping that someone can help out and call in and assist the police department in apprehending him," said the agent.
If you recognize the man in the surveillance video, you're asked to call the Fresno Police Department before he hits again.
