A CVS store manager was killed on the job by a man suspected of shoplifting, police said — the latest example of an increasingly deadly epidemic of US retail theft.
Michael Jacobs, 49 – an operations manager at CVS Pharmacy in Mesa, Ariz., where he worked for more than 20 years – was allegedly shot and killed by Jared Sevey on the evening of September 7, according to KKTV 11 News.
Sevey, 39, was reportedly inside an Arizona CVS location earlier in the day, arguing with Jacobs about shoplifting, KKTV reported. After the conflict, Sevey returns home to get a gun.
Sevey admitted to police that he shot Jacobs because he was “tired of being bullied,” and “this is the last time,” according to the news outlet.
The Post has sought comment from CVS, which has already been forced to install built-in locks on freezer doors and place locks around essentials like deodorant and toothbrushes at its locations in major US cities.
Jacobs is survived by his two children and his wife of 23 years, Stacy. The Jacobs family has started a GoFundMe page, saying that “CVS has never contacted us to discuss medical expenses along with funeral expenses.” GoFundMe has collected over 200 donations totaling $15,402.
Michael Jacobs (pictured with his wife and two children) was shot and killed by a suspected shoplifter while working the night shift as a CVS operations manager at a location in Arizona.Gofundme
The fatal shooting happened at a CVS location in Mesa, Ariz. The alleged shooter, Jared Sevey, told police he opened fire because he was “tired of being bullied.” Google St View
It is the latest incident in a deadly trend. In April, a 26-year-old Home Depot employee was fatally shot after confronting a woman who tried to steal from the home improvement retailer’s Pleasanton store, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to KKTV.
Days earlier, a pregnant shoplifter at a Walgreens in Nashville was shot by an employee following a confrontation over stolen goods that resulted in an exchange of Mace and bullets. The injured mother-to-be was rushed to hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery, saving the baby and the 24-year-old mother’s life.
The Walgreens employee was later charged by the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office with aggravated assault, but a grand jury declined to indict him earlier this week. The new mother was charged with theft and assault.
Representatives for Home Depot and Walgreens did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Stories of seemingly gratuitous shoplifting are everywhere: There’s an epidemic of drugstore thefts in New York, and a “brand” grocer in Baltimore is closing its doors after nearly 25 years after a community desperate for fresh food had to steal them.
A pregnant shoplifter at a Walgreens in Nashville was shot after stealing items from the drugstore and then spraying an employee with Mace.Getty Images
Experts have blamed a surge in lax policies — including the passage of Prop 47 in California, which reduced theft from a potential felony to a misdemeanor — as well as calls to defund the police in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd, which resulted in mass police transfers across the country.
In New York City, dubbed a “shoplifter’s paradise” by some fed-up local politicians, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has faced the shock of not asking for bail for several repeat shoplifting suspects. Bragg has also refused to crack down on thieves unless they steal items worth more than $1,000, which is when theft becomes a crime.
Fury erupted in July after CVS worker Scotty Enoe, 46, killed Charles Brito after the 50-year-old serial thief punched him. “Can Alvin Bragg help with that?” City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island). “He just chose not to prosecute and we ended up with vigilante justice.”
With no nationwide policy on how to deal with shoplifting, many employers have encouraged staff to do nothing in an effort to keep them out of harm’s way.
Lululemon became famous for its hands-off policy after the athletic equipment company fired two employees who called the police while three masked men robbed a post office in Georgia.
New York City — a shoplifter’s paradise — is implementing an initiative called the Merchant Business Improvement Program, which allows business owners to get restraining orders against repeat shoplifters.Christopher Sadowski
The company cited a “zero-tolerance policy” for interfering in the robbery as a reason for firing the employee, who Lululemon referred to as an “educator.”
Walmart in Atlanta, meanwhile, will install a police “workspace” inside the store when it opens in May. Grocery stores and pharmacies were previously closed after they were torched by suspected arsonists.
The shoplifting epidemic cost retailers nearly $100 billion in 2021, and the number of shoplifting complaints rose to more than 63,000 last year — a 45% jump from the roughly 45,000 reported in 2021 and a nearly 275% jump from the mid-2000s, police statistics show .
Now, Bragg in New York is reportedly working to eliminate shoplifting by going after repeat offenders. Part of his plan includes “focused deterrence,” meaning pretrial detention will be sought for accused burglars who have prior felony convictions, multiple open cases and a history of skipping court dates.
New York has also implemented an initiative called the Merchant Business Improvement Program, which allows business owners to obtain restraining orders against suspects who repeatedly enter their stores and steal or harass employees, officials said last month.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
