Four people were arrested Aug. 9 after Kent police responded to a report of suspected shoplifting at a retail store.
Police said officers arrived around 10:50 p.m. after an employee reported that four people were gathering clothing and placing merchandise into bags and shopping carts. According to police, a 29-year-old Tacoma woman left the store carrying clothing and dropped the merchandise when she saw officers in the parking lot.
A second Tacoma woman, 24, reportedly exited through the first set of doors without paying before returning inside and removing unpaid merchandise from her purse. Police said the other two suspects, a 40-year-old Tacoma woman and a 27-year-old Lakewood man, had also passed points of sale with unpaid clothing. They dropped the merchandise after seeing the other suspects detained.
Police initially were told the four did not know each other, but one suspect later said they had arrived together in the same vehicle. Officers reported finding drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle and had it towed while seeking a search warrant.
All four suspects were detained. Two had outstanding warrants and were booked into the SCORE jail facility. Because of the amount of merchandise involved, police referred the case to detectives for further investigation.
