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Video shows masked thieves using sledgehammer in brazen Lululemon heist before fleeing in U-Haul

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Video shows masked thieves using sledgehammer in brazen Lululemon heist before fleeing in U-Haul

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Pennsylvania authorities revealed Tuesday that surveillance video captured a brazen Lululemon smash-and-grab, with two masked individuals using a sledgehammer to carry out the overnight break-in.

The suspects, seen grabbing armfuls of merchandise during multiple rounds of theft, reportedly fled in a U-Haul truck, Lower Merion Police told Fox 29 Philadelphia.

The incident in the Ardmore shopping center reportedly occurred just before 2 a.m. Tuesday and resulted in an estimated $5,000 in stolen merchandise.

In the video released by police, two masked suspects dressed in all black swung what appeared to be a sledgehammer into the store’s windowed entrance. They then quickly rushed through the opening without hesitation, immediately targeting winter coats and shirts in the men’s section.

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Surveillance footage shows a masked suspect smashing through a Lululemon store entrance during an overnight break-in. (Lower Merion Police/Fox 29 Philadelphia)

HOLIDAY CRIME FEARS GROW AS ‘JUGGING’ THIEVES TARGET SHOPPERS CARRYING CASH AND GIFTS: ‘ONLY A MATTER OF TIME’

The suspects appeared to grab entire racks of puffer jackets and sweatshirts before returning outside. The video then shows the men returning to the store a second time after dropping off the stolen items to take even more merchandise.

The footage shows the heist lasted roughly five minutes.

The thieves fled after loading the stolen merchandise into the bed of a U-Haul pickup truck parked outside, Fox 29 reported.

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SUSPECTED THIEVES CAUGHT ON CAMERA SMASHING WASHINGTON STATE STOREFRONT WITH TRUCK IN ATM HEIST ATTEMPT

Police say suspects fled in a U-Haul truck after the overnight Lululemon smash-and-grab. (Lower Merion Police/Fox 29 Philadelphia)

By the afternoon, the store had reopened, but the front door’s glass remained shattered, with a large banner placed in front of the entrance, the local station reported. 

According to an employee from another business nearby, Tuesday’s incident was not the first time the Lululemon store was targeted. 

“I walked out here with my bartender, and we looked, and it’s scary that it’s happening right across the way from us,” Gina Picciano, general manager of Lola’s Garden, told Fox 29.

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MASKED LOOTERS CAUGHT ON CAMERA TRASHING FLORIDA STORE, STEALING CLOTHES

The Lululemon store’s glass entrance was left shattered after the smash-and-grab burglary, authorities said. (Lower Merion Police/Fox 29 Philadelphia)

Last year, Picciano said, a theft occurred during store hours. 

“All of the sudden, a bunch of people were just running out with armfuls of stuff. So, it happens in broad daylight,” Picciano added. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s night or day, and that’s crazy.”

The Lower Merion Police told Fox 29 that delayed alarm alerts can delay response times, emphasizing crime prevention and partnerships with merchants.

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“Sometimes there’s a delay in receiving these calls with Lululemon because their operations center, they’re the ones that receive the video and the alarm,” Superintendent of Police Andy Block said. “Prevention here is the key for this, and we’re always concerned about the criminal element coming into our communities. And our officers work all the time to try to prevent this. We want to work with our merchants to try to make our community safer.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Lower Merion Police and Lululemon for more information.

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Boston, MA

Boston City Hall intruder who stole from employees nabbed by police, after shoplifting arrest: BPD

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Boston City Hall intruder who stole from employees nabbed by police, after shoplifting arrest: BPD


Boston Police said they have nabbed the masked suspect who entered private office suites in City Hall during work hours and stole wallets stuffed with cash and credit cards from multiple employees.

The Boston Police Department identified Darrin O’Neil, 60, of Lowell as the suspect involved in the City Hall thefts, which occurred last month, on Dec. 1.

O’Neil was already being held after a prior shoplifting arrest at DICK’s House of Sport on Boylston Street when he was identified as the alleged perpetrator of the City Hall crime, following what the cops described as an “extensive investigation,” Boston Police said on Wednesday.

Three City Hall employees reported that their wallets, which contained cash, credit cards, health savings account cards, and personal ID were stolen from their offices, per Boston Police reports.

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One woman who had her wallet snatched out of her purse with two credit cards, her City Hall ID, Massachusetts driver’s license, insurance and library cards, and $100 in cash told police two of her coworkers saw an unknown man “in the area who was wearing a brown beanie, dark jacket, sweatpants, and a blue face mask.”

Two other employees told police that not only were cash and credit cards stolen from their offices, but the thief used the cards to rack up hundreds of dollars in unauthorized purchases — totaling $1,500 at Macy’s and Walgreens.

The incident led to calls from two city councilors, Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy, for the city to tighten up security protocols in light of the intrusion and theft, which occurred during work hours and was described by both as a “security breach.”

Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said a day later that steps have already been taken to increase security after the incident, which involved unauthorized access to “several” office suites that are restricted to authorized personnel only.

Municipal Protective Services, which provides security for city buildings, has increased internal patrols throughout City Hall as a result of the incident, the mayor’s office said.

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O’Neil was arrested on shoplifting charges on Dec. 27 at 760 Boylston St., after he was seen inside DICK’s House of Sport concealing merchandise, police said.

Police said they had responded to the store at 11:39 a.m. for a report of a theft in progress.

While police approached, O’Neil was seen exiting the sporting goods store. The cops “were able to quickly stop the suspect and could see clothing with tags affixed to them inside of a bag,” police said.

During a search, about $408 of stolen merchandise was recovered, police said.

For the shoplifting incident, O’Neil was arrested and charged with larceny under $1,200 and being a common and notorious thief, police said.

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After further investigation, police said they determined that O’Neil had seven active warrants for his arrest for charges of four counts of larceny from a building, three counts of receiving stolen property under $1,200, two counts of larceny of a credit card, shoplifting by asportation, credit card fraud under $1,200, and shoplifting by concealing merchandise.



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Pittsburg, PA

2 Pittsburgh business owners charged in EBT fraud scheme

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2 Pittsburgh business owners charged in EBT fraud scheme


Two Pittsburgh business owners have been charged after an investigation by Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office found that they purchased electronic benefit transfer cards at a discounted rate and used them to purchase food for their businesses. KDKA-TV’s Chris Hoffman has more.



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Connecticut

Justice Department sues Connecticut and Arizona as part of effort to get voter data from the states

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Justice Department sues Connecticut and Arizona as part of effort to get voter data from the states


HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Officials in Connecticut and Arizona are defending their decision to refuse a request by the U.S. Justice Department for detailed voter information, after their states became the latest to face federal lawsuits over the issue.

“Pound sand,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes posted on X, saying the release of the voter records would violate state and federal law.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced this week it was suing Connecticut and Arizona for failing to comply with its requests, bringing to 23 the number of states the department has sued to obtain the data. It also has filed suit against the District of Columbia.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the department will “continue filing lawsuits to protect American elections,” saying accurate voter rolls are the ”foundation of election integrity.”

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Secretaries of state and state attorneys general who have pushed back against the effort say it violates federal privacy law, which protects the sharing of individual data with the government, and would run afoul of their own state laws that restrict what voter information can be released publicly. Some of the data the Justice Department is seeking includes names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

Other requests included basic questions about the procedures states use to comply with federal voting laws, while some have been more state-specific. They have referenced perceived inconsistencies from a survey from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Most of the lawsuits target states led by Democrats, who have said they have been unable to get a firm answer about why the Justice Department wants the information and how it plans to use it. Last fall, 10 Democratic secretaries of state sent a letter to the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security expressing concern after DHS said it had received voter data and would enter it into a federal program used to verify citizenship status.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, said his state had tried to “work cooperatively” with the Justice Department to understand the basis for its request for voters’ personal information.

“Rather than communicating productively with us, they rushed to sue,” Tong said Tuesday, after the lawsuit was filed.

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Connecticut, he said, “takes its obligations under federal laws very seriously.” He pledged to “vigorously defend the state against this meritless and deeply disappointing lawsuit.”

Two Republican state senators in Connecticut said they welcomed the federal lawsuit. They said a recent absentee ballot scandal in the state’s largest city, Bridgeport, had made the state a “national punchline.”



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