The recent string of mass shopliftings in retail, high-end and jewelry stores has corporations desperate for a way to stop thieves, and one new strategy seems to have done just that ... resulting in several arrests.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Lululemon Athletica has been putting tracking devices on store merchandise -- not necessarily to stop the theft from happening, but to recover lost goods after the crime takes place.
We're told as a result of the trackers, police were recently able to track down several women in a vehicle in Orange County, shortly after they'd hit a Lululemon store in Los Angeles.
Cops recovered around $15,000 worth of stolen Lulu gear when they pulled over the vehicle ... along with another $5,000 in goods stolen from other stores in the area.
Louis Vuitton San Francisco, Union square got cleared out!! pic.twitter.com/7Sz6rlRo8n
— Da Juan (@CARLITOSGUEY) November 20, 2021
As we've reported, it was just last week when a Louis Vuitton store was ransacked in a San Francisco smash-and-grab that looked like it was out of a movie ... with the alleged thieves scrambling to waiting vehicles.
Another flash-rob happened at an L.A. area LV store recently as well.
GONE IN 45 SECONDS: See how quickly thieves swiped merchandise from the Louis Vuitton store in Oak Brook yesterday. New surveillance video below.
— Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyTV) November 18, 2021
Police are looking for tips:
630-368-8700 or crimetips@oakbrook.orghttps://t.co/S91RzhqnRI Latest on @WGNNews at 4pm. pic.twitter.com/dbhsgXY2Jc
Our law enforcement sources say the Lulu trackers -- and similar tech in other stores -- can be a good deterrent, but they add criminals keep coming back ... because often they're being released without bail.