LAKE WORTH, Texas — The Walgreens on Lake Worth Boulevard has been busy, but not with customers.
In the last three weeks, police say, employees at the Walgreens were held at gunpoint in a violent armed robbery, a guy burglarized a van in the parking lot, two women stole $3,000 worth of beauty products, and two men stole 79 beauty products they shoved in trash bags.
"It’s incredibly frustrating," Lake Worth PD Chief J.T. Manoushagian told WFAA.
But the chief knows what’s happening at his Walgreens is not unique.
"Retail theft is on the rise not only here in North Texas, but all across the country," he said.
According to the Council on Criminal Justice, reported shoplifting incidents have rebounded since falling in 2020. Of the 24 major American cities studied, Dallas suffered the second largest increase with a 73% jump in thefts from 2022 to 2023.
The pair arrested Tuesday, according to the chief, has been tied to at least 30 similar offenses in North Texas since Halloween alone.
Manoushagian told WFAA organized theft rings sell beauty products on the black market. That might not sound scary, "but all of that funds bigger, larger criminal organizations," he said.
Lake Worth police made arrests in three of the Walgreens cases. And are close, the chief said, to closing the fourth, armed robbery case.
"We want to send a message to criminal organizations you will be pursued, you will be caught," said Manoushagian.