Camera Observes Shopkeeper Distracted by Little Boy Decoy in Shoplift

WATERLOO, Ontario, Canada
Published: August 16, 2004

A clothing store’s surveillance camera caught three adults shoplifting $3,000 worth of merchandise while an 8-year-old boy distracted the shop’s proprietor.

The store’s owner, Suzanne Huegle, told The Record a woman, two men and the child entered the store. Acting as a decoy, the boy went to the front to speak to Huegle while the adults went to the back of the store.

She thought nothing of the incident until she reviewed the surveillance tape, which captured the adults shoving jeans into pouches sewn into a woman’s billowing dress. According to Huegle’s inventory, she is missing seven pairs of high-priced jeans, three shirts valued at $169 each, and a $169 belt.

According to the owner, during the conversation, the boy left, went to the woman in the back and returned to the front of the store to continue talking with Huegle. She believes the boy knew exactly what was happening throughout the entire incident.

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