An alert retail loss prevention agent is credited with helping to stop a couple of organized criminals, responsible for more than $94,000 in thefts from over 47 stores, in their tracks, in Franklin.
Security at the Franklin Kohl’s quickly spotted the two women as they entered the store shortly before 3:00 pm on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Immediately recognizing the suspects from an online retail theft information-sharing system, the Kohl’s loss prevention agent quickly called the cell phone of an on-duty, and nearby Franklin Police Flex Team Officer.
Watch the video here.
Store security relayed to responding officers that the two women were concealing massive amounts of merchandise under their skirts. Plain-clothes officers arriving in covert police vehicles converged on the parking lot and arrested the women as they were walking out of the store.
Officers discovered that both women had bags with zippers under their skirts, tied around their waists. Each woman was carrying about 30 pounds of stolen makeup and other merchandise with a combined value of almost $15,000.
A search of the getaway van that the women were headed for led to the recovery of an additional $19,500 in merchandise that had been stolen from other Kohl’s stores.
The investigation is still underway but, so far, the women have been linked to similar thefts in multiple other jurisdictions between Tennessee and Texas.
Isabela Tomescu, 26, of Oklahoma City, is in the Williamson County Jail. Charged with Organized Retail Crime and Felony Theft, she is due in court on May 23.
The other shoplifter, Daniela Listor, was also charged with Organized Retail Crime and Felony Theft. She was picked up from the Williamson County Jail by U.S. Immigration authorities.
The Franklin Police Department credits the Kohl’s loss prevention agent with these arrests and the substantial recovery. The Department says that close relationships between its officers and key community members are an essential ingredient to the huge success of this case.
