Two women accused of stealing a wallet from a New Jersey Chickie's & Pete's

Two women are accused of stealing a wallet from a woman's purse at the Chickie's and Pete's on 25 South Route 73 in Marlton, NJ.

The incident was caught on the restaurant's surveillance camera on July 5 around 7:15 that night.

"She just took her wallet out of her pocketbook, puts it inside her pocketbook, and now they're going to leave," Police Lieutenant Joe Friel explained as he watched back the surveillance video.

The footage shows the suspects taking the wallet as it hung off the back of the victim's chair while at the restaurant.

Police say within minutes, the two thieves headed to a Target store just a few minutes away on 73.

There, they used the victim's stolen credit cards to buy a couple thousand bucks worth of electronics and gift cards.

According to officials, it is the second time a customer in this restaurant has been targeted in the three months the place has been open.

Lieutenant Friel said the crooks are opportunistic.

"If you look here, every seat, I mean, this is the only one with the purse hanging off. And you can see that it's a perfect target," he said.

FOX 29's Bruce Gordon spoke to some women about their own best practice while carrying a pocketbook.

"I had a policeman come up to me one time at a food court and tell me to put my purse on my lap, so ever since, I do that."

"It's always either on my shoulder or in my lap, if I'm sitting down, and that's it."

Police say a moment of inattention, cost this victim hours, spent cancelling credit cards and getting new identification.

High quality security cameras gives police a great visual at the crooks. Police say even with the clear images of the suspects, the thieves are hard to track down. They say it is because the New Jersey Turnpike sits just a few minutes away from the Route 73 business corridor. This means the thieves can drive in from anywhere up and down the East coast, hit their target and quickly find their way out of the region.