Over the weekend, two people walked into a store and then left a few minutes later with thousands of dollars worth of lipsticks, according to police in Guelph.
They say that a man and a woman walked into a store near Stone Road West and Scottsdale Drive on Saturday at around 7 p.m.
The woman then worked as a lookout, according to police, who allege she kept an eye on employees while pretending to look at perfume as her partner began to pocket lipsticks.
Within five minutes, police say they left the store with Maybelline lipsticks which are valued at $2,242.
Police described the man as being in his mid-30s, around five-feet-eight-inches tall with a medium build and dark facial hair. He was said to be dressed in a black workwear-style jacket, beige sweater, jeans and a black baseball cap.
They said the female suspect also appeared to be in her mid-30s, was around five-feet-six-inches tall with a medium build, dark hair and a large nose. She was wearing a long beige winter jacket, black sweater and a zebra-print toque.
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This follows on the heels of a number of cosmetic thefts which have occurred in Guelph over the past few years with two being reported by police in December as well.
On Dec. 9, a man walked into a store on Stone Road West and allegedly grabbed 19 skin care products and placed them inside his jacket. Police estimated the total value of the skincare products to be $1,340.
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Six days earlier, two men walked into a shop on Eramosa Road and made off with $1,774 worth of perfume.
In that instance, one man distracted an employee as a second filled a bag and his jacket with fragrance sets before the pair dashed out of the store.
A spokesperson for Guelph police told Global News that size likely matters in connection with the cosmetics thefts.
“Certainly large-scale thefts of cosmetic products and fragrances is an ongoing issue, with single occurrences often resulting in hundreds or even thousands of dollars in losses for the victims,” Guelph police spokesperson Scott Tracey said in an email.
“I suspect this is largely due to the high value of generally small items which are easier to steal.”
He said the thefts do not just occur in Guelph but in other areas as well and different police services are investigating to see if some are connected.
“We constantly work with our partners at other police services to identify those individuals involved in multi-jurisdictional thefts, and certainly there are enough similarities between some of these investigations to suggest some organization between suspects,” Tracey explained.
He said that police believe many of these products could be headed to the black market for sale.
“While we can’t comment with certainly about the motivation, it is believed due to the nature and relative high value of the items being stolen that they would be sold on the black market,” Tracey explained.
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