9 Disturbing And Alarming Incidents Of Holiday Theft

Shoplifting is expected to cost retailers $9 billion this holiday season. Thieves have been quite busy so far frisking various joints (but mostly Walmart).

1. In Houston, thieves lifted a BABY in addition to $2,500 worth of merchandise.

ABC reports that six men and a woman stole $2,500 worth of stuff from Walmart and some other places. Authorities were trying to arrest one of the guys when he grabbed a baby and ran. The baby was later found at a house. The thief was not the baby's father.

2. Also in Houston, a woman was allegedly shot and killed by a security guard in a Walmart parking lot.

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A Walmart employee who noticed a group of women "stuffing items inside their purses" inside the Walmart notified an off-duty deputy from the sheriff's office who was working as a security guard in the store. The confrontation between the deputy and the women went from the store to the parking lot — the deputy opened a door to the car the alleged theives were in, but instead of stopping they revved the car forward. The car got away, but police found it nearby, with one of the women dead from a gunshot wound.

3. In Pennsylvania, thieves made off with $20,000 worth of Burberry stuff.

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It was all menswear, and they got it from Nordstrom. Authorities call this kind of job a "smash and grab," with one Lieutenant telling WWD, "We have also seen more sophisticated operations, where they will use a mule who goes back and forth to a car to keep dumping things." Maybe these guys just couldn't resist the shiny purple coat Romeo Beckham wears in the new ads. Nothing has the ability to distract from illegal activity like a dude in an iridescent purple trench.

4. This month in Arizona, police arrested an all-female shopping gang that was targeting CVS stores.

The women would allegedly steal makeup and jewelry from retailers and then sell their loot at a local swap meet. Authorities recovered merchandise worth more than $100,000 from the ladies.

5. In Tampa, police aprehended a cross-dressing shoplifter.

In an operation called "Deck the Malls," police recognized a shoplifter — a man wearing a long-haired wig — from a previous bust. When the cops got him during operation Deck the Malls, he was with another fellow. The Sun Sentinel reports their bags of stolen goods contained "skinny jeans, polo shirts and shorts from various stores [and] a 'booster bag,' which is used to defeat anti-theft equipment."

6. Apparently, Axe is a commonly stolen item.

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A Dothan, Alabama news outlet reports, "Axe products are the fifth most stolen item during the holidays and Chanel No. 5 perfume comes in at number two." Axe also topped the list of shoplifted items in 2011. Maybe this makes sense? Would YOU want to pay for Axe??

7. Salem, MA is having major issues with lawn ornament thefts.

"Although police have received a number of reports of holiday decorations stolen from front lawns in the area over the past month, the thefts might have hit a high-water mark on Wednesday, when a fully decorated, 4-foot Christmas tree with a silver star on top was stolen from a front lawn on Pleasant Street," the Salem Times reports. The criminal may have made off with the $50 tree in broad daylight, too — it apparently disappeared between 1 and 5 in the afternoon.

8. In Florida, a mom managed to steal $30k worth of stuff in a month by "sticker swapping."

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"Sticker swapping" is replacing expensive labels with cheaper ones. This mom was working with $100 Lego sets, according to NBC.

9. And some crooks are stealing ribs, steaks, and sausages by stuffing it in their clothes.

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Apparently this happened in upstate New York, also according to NBC.

The worst part about all this shoplifting for most people? It ends up costing paying consumers. About $100 a family.