$10,000 in Nike, North Face stolen by group at Dick's in Mount Laurel: police

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - A shoplifting spree worth $10,000 is under investigation in South Jersey as police look to identify five suspects.

Officers responded to Dicks's Sports Goods within the East Gate Square shopping center in Mount Laural around 4:45 p.m. on Friday.

Five men were seen leaving the store with handfuls of stolen Nike and North Face merchandise, according to authorities.

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The merchandise was worth approximately $10,000.

Police say the suspects also caused $200 in damage leaving the store before fleeing in an Acura TLX Type S sedan.

"Robberies don’t just happen here. It’s not a very crime-populated area, so when you do hear about something like this, it rattles you. It makes you shocked to hear it," said Keaton Adinolfi of Medford, New Jersey.

Inside the store are hundreds of open displays with clothes folded or hung up, easy for shoplifters to grab and go. The average Nike hoodie, like the ones in the robber's hands, can sell for $50 to $100.

"I work at a similar retail store. You can’t stop them. You just gotta watch them, and it’s just a disgrace how people act," said Frank Beierschmitt of Lumberton, New Jersey. "They got more clothes. They got higher-cost clothes. They’re trying to attract people into the stores, and unfortunately, the robbers see that."

But what’s also in the store are a bunch of cameras that likely captured the entire robbery. Organized retail crime has become such an issue across the Garden State that recently lawmakers advanced a bill to toughen penalties for repeat offenders and to create stronger protections for retail workers.

"We gotta get tougher on people. You gotta be able to prosecute them, and prosecution is the key. You have to put a deterrent down, or people just keep doing it. It’s only going to get worse," Beierschmitt emphasized.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

"I think it’s desperation. I think around holidays, people feel a lot of pressure to get expensive things, to get items of value, and I think that’s a pressure we should stop putting on people," Adinolfi said.

FOX 29 reached out to Dick's Sporting Goods with questions about their retail loss prevention measures and are waiting to hear back.