Police: Woman Used Small Child To Rip Off Wallet In South Brunswick, N.J.
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Police in South Brunswick, New Jersey said Tuesday that a woman used her young daughter to steal from a woman's wallet at a Target store earlier this month.
Police were called to a Target on Route 1 in South Brunswick around 4 p.m. Jan. 10, after a customer realized her wallet had been stolen from her purse in her shopping cart.
Target loss prevention agents and police reviewed surveillance video, and discovered that a child had reached into the shopping cart, grabbed the woman's wallet, and handed it to her mother, police said.
The victim had placed her wallet in the top of the shopping cart and had been looking at greeting cards, police said. Police believe the child's mother bumped the cart away from the victim, and the child – who appeared to be about 5 years old -- reached in and took the wallet while leaving two DVDs.
The mother than walked a short distance to another woman and left the store with two children behind them, police said. They both left shopping carts with items in them, and left without buying anything, police said.
The victim's credit cards were used soon afterward at the nearby Quaker Bridge Mall, police said.
The child's mother was described as heavy set and in her mid- to late 30s, police said. The other woman was described only as a black female in her early 20s.
Both women left in a tan or gray older-model four-door Lexus sport-utility vehicle.
The victim lost $40 in cash, and the Louis Vuitton Clutch wallet, which was worth over $1,000, police said.
Anyone with information on the suspects was asked to call South Brunswick police Detective Eric Tighelaar, at (732) 329-4000 ext. 7486.