Bandits boosting beer
COEUR d'ALENE - A couple of beer thieves appear to have teamed up on multiple occasions to strike Albertsons supermarkets in Coeur d'Alene and Hayden, loading up shopping carts full of the suds late at night and bolting from the stores, according to police.
The Albertsons at 220 W. Ironwood Drive was hit four times since Dec. 31, though once unsuccessfully when a store employee grabbed a cart full of beer before one of the bandits could make off with it out one of the store's exits. The Albertsons at the Prairie Shopping Center, in Hayden, was hit twice, police said.
Recently, two men also loaded up a shopping cart and stole five 12-packs and one 18-pack of Coors Light from the Walgreens at the northeast corner of U.S. 95 and Appleway Avenue. The men who boosted that beer had similar descriptions to the two who hit the Albertsons stores.
In the Walgreens incident on Jan. 15, one suspect was described as being 6 feet 1 inch tall, slender of build, wearing a black hat with a yellow or white "P" on it, black shirt, blue jeans and dark-colored shoes.
The other man was described as being 6 feet 2 inches tall, slender, wearing a baseball cap, gray-white jacket, dark-colored pants and white shoes.
In the recent Albertsons beer thefts, one man was described as having a goatee, tattoos on the underside of both forearms, and wearing a black baseball cap with a "P" logo on the front.
The second man was wearing dark clothing, including a black baseball cap with an unidentified logo on the front.
In one of the Albertsons thefts, witnesses described a vehicle with a large "Fox" sticker on the back window. The vehicle used by the two has been described as white or grayish.
Coeur d'Alene police haven't said whether or not the thefts are related or were perpetrated by the same individuals.
On Jan. 22, two men entered the Coeur d'Alene Albertsons and filled a shopping cart full of beer.
One man left the store with nothing while the other walked around with the beer, then left the store with all the beer in the cart. A store employee yelled at him as he fled with the beer. A police report of that incident didn't detail how much beer was stolen.
On Jan. 15, a store employee managed to grab a shopping cart pushed by one of the perpetrators filled with $343 worth of beer.
Six days earlier, the two bandits stole two cases of Modelo, a case of Corona, a Heineken mini-keg, a couple cases of an unidentified brand, and a $10 personal care item, for a total value of $124.
On Dec. 31, the bandits stole a case of Modelo, a case of Corona, a Heineken mini-keg, and two cases of an unidentified brand, for a total value of $98.
In the Albertsons incidents, the two men enter the store, grab a shopping cart or two, walk to the rear of the store, stroll to the other side of the store along the back aisle, then approached the other side of the store and the beer section.
One loads a cart with beer, then they usually exit the store separately.
After reviewing the thefts, the district loss prevention manager for Albertsons said he also discovered two similar incidents at the Hayden branch.