SUPERMARKETS have been suffering from a number of incidents where large quantities of alcohol has been stolen, police report.
The police say it appears as though there are groups of offenders travelling across the south acting in an organised way, specifically targeting supermarkets and stealing hundreds of pounds worth of alcohol each time.
Inspector Lindsey Winter reports, “The suspects are described as mixed in age and sex and ethnicity, but the way they are committing the crime is quite specific; the offenders are visiting the alcohol areas of the store and selecting various bottles, usually including champagne, and then moving them within the store to other aisles.
“This is quite a deliberate act. Once this is done those who move the alcohol leave the store and a different group of individuals enter some time later and gather up the ‘moved’ bottles from where they know them to have been hidden. It is suspected that these tactics are employed so that those stealing do not draw attention to themselves in the alcohol areas of the store.
“Most large supermarkets commit time and resources to the alcohol shelves and are very much aware about prevention and detection of crime. Three local supermarkets in Westbury and Warminster have been targeted on three different dates: the 17th, 19th and 22nd January. On 19th January there were two reports of £200 worth of alcohol reported stolen from a supermarket in Westbury. Whilst the police continue their enquiries which will include CCTV both in the town and in stores, help from the general public is sought.
“If you believe you see people acting suspiciously, perhaps involved in this type of criminality whilst you are carrying out your routine shopping, you need to mention this to the staff working in the stores straight way. Staff on the tills, information desk or floor walkers are aware of this type of criminality and they will make the necessary in-store arrangements and the police will undoubtedly be informed.
“The groups of people committing this type of crime need to be disrupted and if possible apprehended by the police. The general public are invaluable in helping us with our crime enquiries, and if they can simply mention suspicious activity they might see to staff, I am confident it will bring us a step closer to identifying who is doing this.”
