At least 10 shoppers have been robbed in Costco and Bed & Bath parking lots in five different Long Island communities in the last month by people pretending to need to help, Suffolk County police said Thursday as they revealed the apparent scheme.
The most recent case in the pattern came Wednesday, cops say. A woman was in the Costco parking lot on Garet Place in Commack around 3:30 p.m. when a man walked up to her and asked for directions, according to police. It wasn't clear what she said, but when she went back to her vehicle, cops say she noticed her wallet was missing from the passenger seat.
The woman went back into Costco to see if someone had returned her wallet and saw the man who had asked her about directions, along with another man at the entrance to the store. They ran when they saw her, police said.
That led investigators to unravel a sprawling scheme in which up to four people, sometimes two men, sometimes two women and a man, appear to be targeting retail shoppers, especially Costco customers, in Suffolk County parking lots since July 14. All of the 10 so-called "deception thefts" involved one person asking for directions while another steals credit cards.
Each of them unfolded in parking lots in the early to mid-afternoon hours, between 12:15 p.m. and 4:25 p.m., in Holbrook, Nesconset, East Northport, Commack and Melville. Wednesday's report was the only August theft linked to the case, but cops say the crooks targeted customers in that same parking lot three other times -- July 14, July 16 and July 21 -- as well.
Also hit more than once: The Costco on Broadhollow Road in Melville (July 14, July 16, July 21). Costco customers were also victimized in the parking lots of stores on Beacon Drive in Holbrook and Route 25 in Nesconset, Suffolk County police said. One theft linked to the pattern was reported at a Bed & Bath parking lot, on Jericho Turnpike in East Northport, as well.
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No injuries have been reported in any of the cases.
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Officials say the makeup of the robbery teams varies. In some cases, two female and one male suspect were reported. One of the women was described as possibly appearing pregnant.
Anyone with information on the pattern is asked to call Suffolk County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
