Palo Alto Police Arrest Four in Retail Theft

<p>Palo Alto Police have arrested four suspects for organized retail theft last Sunday evening after they were caught shoplifting at lululemon store in the Stanford Shopping Center&period;  The investigation linked them to prior thefts in other cities earlier in the day&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On Sunday&comma; July 17&comma; 2022&comma; at about 6&colon;02 p&period;m&period;&comma; the Palo Alto Police 24-hour dispatch center received a call from staff at lululemon reporting an in-progress shoplift at the Stanford Shopping Center at 180 El Camino Real&period;  Upon arrival a few minutes later&comma; officers located and detained four suspects matching the provided description outside the store&period;  Officers recovered 100 pairs of leggings valued at over &dollar;12&comma;000 in their possession&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The ensuing investigation revealed that the four suspects had entered the store along with a fifth suspect&comma; the existence of whom officers were not aware until later in the investigation&period;  That fifth suspect&comma; a man&comma; is at large&period;  A surveillance image of him appears above&period;  Officers located the suspects’ vehicle&comma; a blue 2007 Hyundai Entourage&comma; in the parking lot&period;  There were several garbage bags full of items inside the minivan&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While working with asset protection personnel from lululemon&comma; officers were able to determine that the bags were full of approximately 300 items of clothing valued at &dollar;38&comma;000 that had been stolen by the same suspects earlier in the day at other lululemon stores in Burlingame and San Mateo&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Police booked the three adult suspects &lpar;18-year-old Ionut Grafi Dumitru and 22-year-old Elvira Fistogeanu of Sacramento&comma; and 20-year-old Florentina Izabela Matei of Carmichael&rpar; into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for felony organized retail theft&comma; felony possession of stolen property&comma; and felony conspiracy&period;  The booking photos of those three suspects appear above&period;  Police transported the fourth suspect&comma; a 16-year-old juvenile female from Sacramento&comma; to the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall for the same three charges&period;  In accordance with our standard release of information procedures&comma; no additional information on that suspect is available since she is under the age of 18&period;  We do not release booking photographs of juveniles in such situations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Police do not have any information linking these suspects to any additional crimes in Palo Alto at this time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;