On Sept. 5, a pair of shoplifting and robbery incidents affected Chestnut Hill business owners, who say both were committed by the same suspect.

According to Ann Marie Arment, manager of Weavers Way at 8424 Germantown Ave. in Chestnut Hill, a suspect stole groceries from the co-op just before 12:30 p.m.

Shortly after, a robbery occurred at Villavillekula, a children’s boutique at 8419 Germantown Ave. Police officers from the 14th District responded to the call around 12:58 p.m.

Villavillekula

Beth Milley, owner of Villavillekula, was not inside the store when the robbery occurred, but Cynthia Fillmore, owner of the adjacent Windfall Gallery in the same building, watched it happen. According to Fillmore, a Villavillekula employee noticed a woman acting suspiciously and called Fillmore over.

“We struck up a conversation with her, helping her pick things out. She was pretending like she was shopping for her niece,” Fillmore said. “[We said], ‘We can set your things down at the register so you can keep looking.’ She said, ‘No, no, no, I’m not taking anything.’ ... Red flag number two.”

The woman ran out of the store with a pile full of items. Fillmore said she chased the woman down Germantown Avenue, grabbing her shirt and ripping it. A Windfall Gallery customer also chased the woman, while bystanders took photos and videos.

Fillmore explained after the incident, “I just learned [from the police] that because there was a confrontation, [the crime] goes from retail theft to robbery.”

Fillmore said she was able to get most of the stolen items back, but, according to police, the offender, described as a Black female in her 40s with a thin build, hopped in a waiting black Chevrolet SUV and fled with two jackets.

“We’ve had shoplifters, but not that brazen,” Fillmore said. “She was right in your face, took a pile, and just walked out the door. Are you kidding?”

The Chestnut Hill Business Association sent an alert to local business owners after the incident, describing the suspect as having a “bobbed haircut with highlights and wearing distinctive red boots.”

Fillmore said she showed a video from a bystander to an employee at Weavers Way and the red boots alerted them that the suspect might be a repeat offender on the Avenue.

Weavers Way

Arment said she was not in Weavers Way when the shoplifting occurred, but she notified police after the incident.

“I was just made aware of it by my colleagues, and then Friday evening, I was able to pull up the security footage and ascertain the timeline of the same person from the video that Cynthia shared,” Arment said. “I was able to look through our footage and identify the person filling up a shopping cart and then leaving — after only paying for a tea — out of the front. It must have been literally moments later that they then went across the street.”

Arment estimates the total amount of groceries stolen equals around $200. Weavers Way’s policy for shoplifting requires employees to notify a manager, who then assesses the situation.

Arment said she was “disappointed” the incident occurred.

“We’d like customer service to be our top priority,” Arment told the Local. “And it continues to be our top priority, but when we have to divert our attention from our paying customers, our neighbors, and the people we share community with and like to interact with every day here to monitor nefarious behavior, it takes away from the overall customer experience that we really pride ourselves on.”

Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.