Geraldton shoplifters walking out of stores with ‘trolleys’ full of stolen goods

Police are concerned about a spate of brazen shoplifting incidents in Geraldton where offenders have been filling up trolleys with goods and simply walking out the door.

Geraldton officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Chris Martin said two females were spotted walking out the fire exit at Kmart with trolleys full of stolen items at the weekend.

A similar incident occurred at Rigters IGA, with someone seen leaving the store with a basket of cosmetics they did not pay for.

A Spotlight staff member was accused of being racist when they confronted a shoplifter, but they were not physically harmed during the incident.

Sen. Sgt Martin said the cases were unusual given the volume of items stolen.

“Shoplifting in the past would just be a can of pop or a bag of crisps or something, but people are filling up their trolleys and just walking out,” he said.

He was pleased to see no employees had been hurt in the recent offending, but said shoplifting incidents could quickly become violent.

“Unfortunately we had a robbery incident at the end of last year where a member of staff challenged an offender and was subsequently assaulted,” he said.