LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. – The Broward Sheriff’s Office is searching for five people who they say were captured on surveillance video stealing about $15,000 worth of sunglasses from a store in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea.
According to BSO spokeswoman Gerdy St. Louis, the theft occurred around 8:30 p.m. May 20 at Sunglass City, located at 110 Commercial Blvd.
“According to employees at the business, three men and two women, accompanied by a young child, entered the store,” St. Louis said in a news release. “While inside, the subjects inquired about high-end sunglasses displayed in a room at the rear of the business.”
Authorities said one employee began to help the group, at which time one of the men, dressed in all grey, removed a pair of sunglasses from a shelf and handed them to a woman, who was wearing a red T-shirt with white lettering and a long grey skirt.
“The woman then took the item and placed it in her white handbag,” St. Louis said. “At some point, another employee begins to assist one of the other males wearing a black polo shirt, shorts and sneakers. The man tries on a pair of glasses, while the second female, wearing a black dress with the word ‘Guess’ written in white, steals yet another pair of shades.”
Detectives said the thieves used several distraction methods to steal five sunglasses, each of which were worth thousands of dollars.
Anyone with information about the thieves’ identities or whereabouts is asked to call BSO Lauderdale-By-The-Sea District Detective Ben Koos at 954-640-4234 or submit a tip through the SaferWatch App.
Anonymous tips can be made by calling Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477), or submitting a tip online at browardcrimestoppers.org, or by dialing **TIPS (8477) from any cellphone in the United States.