They come back for seconds: Retailers reveal shocking encounters with brazen teen thieves

Westfield Marion Shopping Centre retail workers share their experience of organised youths regularly shoplifting from the store.

Teenage shoplifters committing organised and sophisticated theft has forced Westfield Marion Shopping Centre retail workers to band together.

South Australia has experienced a 30 per cent rise in violent crime in the last 12 month, SDA secretary Josh Peak told The Advertiser.

Westfield Marion Shopping Centre retail workers have revealed to have felt the increased theft in their own stores – usually by the same group of teenage thieves – which has left workers no choice but to be each other’s warning system.

Teenage shoplifters committing organised and sophisticated theft has forced Westfield Marion Shopping Centre retail workers to band together. Picture Mark Brake

General Pants Co employee Abbey Lawley, 24, has shared her observations.

“There is a group of regular teen thieves in the shopping centre,” Ms Lawley said.

“They usually come down on Thursday (which is late night shopping day) and they have a regular route of shops that they go into and steal from.

“And they usually come here last because General Pants Co is the last shop before their exit doors.”

Ms Lawley said the perceived thieves have several fixed routes in different parts of the Westfield Marion shopping centre.

When store employees spot the “troublesome” teen group, they warn neighbouring stores of the impending visit.

However, Ms Lawley said there isn’t much she can do to stop the known thieves from entering the store except calling security – which usually “always comes too late” and misses the suspected offenders anyway.

“Our store policy forbids us from really stopping anybody; I can ask to search someone’s bag but they can say ‘no’ and that will be the end of that.”

Shop worker Daniel Trembath, 34, has also noticed some recent disturbing developments among the teen thieves after working in the retail industry for 10 years.

Mr Trembath said the youths have also upped their stealing skills and are usually in possession of magnetic security tag removers.

“These days the kids buy little tools and stuff to get the security tags off,” Mr Trembath said.

“We’ve found four tags just these past few days and we can find a handful of them on the floor in the corner somewhere or we’ll find them clicked on to other pieces of clothing.”

Westfield Marion Shopping Centre. Picture Mark Brake

Mr Trembath was most bothered by the brazen nature in which teenagers steal.

“I had two young girls come in and they looked like they were from nice families, they had nice dresses and you could just tell they had money,” he recalled.

“And they came in with a trolley and they just took two skateboards and just walked out again – I saw it happen, so I decided to chase after them.

“When I caught up and tried taking the skateboard away the girl started wrestling me for it and then eventually she gave up and threw it at me.”

Westfield Marion Shopping Centre has been contacted for a comment.

The teen theft activity at Westfield Marion has come to light after two children – boy, 12, and girl, 14, – had threatened to kill someone in the shopping centre with a firearm.

The duo has been arrested and have already appeared in the Adelaide Youth Court on Thursday via video link.

However, the shopping centre employees have expressed their disappointment with centre management for not addressing the incident with the employees.

Owner of pop-up store Midnight Moon Molly Boyle, 26, said she would have expected management to send everyone a message.

Molly Boyle, 26 at her Midnight Moon pop up store – she had her security cameras stolen. Picture: Keryn Stevens

“It’s concerning when such a young boy threatens the staff here,” she said.

“I just think it might have been better for security to send out a memo to everyone and explain what happened rather than leave us guessing.”

This comes after Rundle Mall had reported a huge spike in violent shoplifting which had forced heavily armed specialist officers to patrol the strip as of March 14.

One incident resulted in a Rebel sport store employee being knocked out with a chair -allegedly by a 15-year-old girl – after the worker caught the teen shoplifting.

The teenage girl appeared in the Adelaide Youth Court for charges including aggravated assault causing harm with weapon and unlawful possession, she was denied bail.

Another incident involved allegations a man threatened Rundle Mall Foot Locker employees with an axe – he allegedly stole a shirt and left.

Trevor John Sansbury had appeared in court and prosecutors said he admitted to shoplifting the item but told police he drew a hatchet in “self-defence” because staff threatened to “put their hands” on him. Sansbury is yet to enter any pleas.