Smash, grab, then sell on Web

Shoplifters bolder, more organized as fencing loot gets easier By Dahleen Glanton | Chicago Tribune correspondent ATLANTA — At first it seemed like ordinary shoplifting — stuffing a few pairs of jeans into an oversize bag and walking out of the store. But the thieves got bolder. They began showing up in groups of five or six in the middle of the day, spraying store clerks with mace and knocking customers out of the way as they gathered armfuls of clothes. Sometimes they tossed a brick through the glass. Sometimes they drove a truck through the front door. The thieves aren't looking for just any kind of jeans. They're snatching high-end designer duds that sell for $150 to $350. The "bluejean bandits" have hit more than two dozen stores in the Atlanta area since January, stealing more than $1 million in goods and selling them... [read full story]