(WWJ) – Three Detroiters are looking at a long list of charges in connection with a string of “push-out” thefts at Lululemon and Ulta Beauty stores across Metro Detroit, then selling the stolen merchandise.
Michigan Attorney Dana Nessel on Monday announced charges against 34-year-old Loreece Cross, and 20-year-olds Cardiae Davis and Samira Smith in connection with a crime ring she says was responsible for more than 30 thefts that netted them more than $200,000.
The alleged crime ring operated as far back as December 2022 and was just busted for a theft over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Nessel says “small, organized groups” would enter a storefront, grab as much high-value merchandise as they could carry or load into a shopping basket or car, then “simply walk or run back out the front door into an awaiting getaway vehicle.”
The suspects would then allegedly sell the stolen goods directly to end-consumers or in bulk to a fence operation.
Their alleged scheme cost retailers over $200,000 in losses, according to Nessel. One theft incident alone netted over $19,000 in merchandise, the AG said.
Each suspect has been charged with conducting a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony. Davis and Smith were also charged with seven counts of first-degree retail fraud, a five-year felony.
Cross was charged with four counts of first-degree retail fraud and one count of second-degree retail fraud, a one-year misdemeanor.
A detective in Grosse Pointe first picked up on the string of thefts this summer at Lululemon stores across the region, according to Nessel’s office.
The group has been connected to Lululemon thefts in Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Clinton Township (location at Partridge Creek Mall), Detroit, Grand Rapids, Grosse Pointe, Novi (location at Twelve Oaks Mall), and Rochester Hills.
They also allegedly targeted Ulta stores in Canton, Northville, Shelby Township, and Warren.
The investigation by the Attorney General’s FORCE Team was aided by efforts from Michigan State Police detectives from both the East and West fraud teams, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, and the local police departments of Grosse Pointe, Canton, Novi, and Birmingham.
“It’s not just a matter of these businesses writing off these losses. Remember, those losses get passed along to the consumer. So this isn’t just a regular criminal law issue, it also is a consumer protection issue,” Nessel said at a press conference Monday.
Also on Monday Nessel announced charges against three Chilean nationals in a separate crime ring investigation. Officials say they’re part of a larger group of criminals that have been targeting homes in affluent homes in Metro Detroit and across the country.