Blue Jean Bandits Pillage Several Pairs Of Denim From Concord JCPenney Store

CONCORD (KPIX 5) -- Three women walked into a JCPenney store in Concord and walked out with thousands of dollars' worth of jeans last week.

Surveillance video from inside the store at Sunvalley Mall showed two women lingering and picking up jeans. A third woman enters the frame and suddenly begins stacking jeans before all three women start walking outside.

"Approximately 38 pairs of jeans were taken and then they just walk out," said Cpl. David Petty with the Concord Police Department.

The incident happened last Thursday at around 1:30 p.m. The 38 pairs of stolen denim totaled about $2,000.

Earlier in December at Hilltop Mall in Richmond, thieves escaped a Sears store with clothing piled so high that they couldn't see where the exits were. These types of theft are becoming increasingly more common across the country.

The cost of the average shoplifting incident has double to $559, the National Retail Federation reports. Many of these crimes are turning from petty theft into grand theft as well as commercial burglary and beyond.

"Because they're entering the structure with the intent to steal," said Petty.

Retail crime is becoming increasingly more organized. In December, a multi-agency task force in San Francisco retrieved $2.5 million in pilfered goods before they were flipped and sold to unsuspecting customers.

"A lot of times, I figured it's just bootleg stuff, but I'm sure there's plenty of that going on, too. $2,000 worth of jeans is a lot of money," said Chris Ward of Pleasant Hill.