Two people
suspected of stealing liquor from the CVS Pharmacy at the intersection of
Ind. 49 and 1100N on June 11 are assumed to have hit the Chesterton
Jewel-Osco the same night, Chesterton Police said.
According to
police, CPD detectives made contact with management at Jewel after two CPD
officers pursued a vehicle from the Jewel parking lot to the Michigan state
line following a shoplifting incident June 11. The officers suspected the
pair, one of whom is suspected of shoplifting liquor from CVS earlier that
night, had time to hit the Jewel before the pursuit began.
Surveillance
footage from Jewel shows a woman and a man entering from the store’s south
entrance at approximately 7:18 p.m., according to police, and shows the
woman put three bottles of Hendrick’s Gin into an oversized purse, then
shows the man “crotch” two bottles of Grand Mariner before both walk out
without paying at approximately 7:20 p.m.
“It appears as
though they were on a mission, and they wasted no time,” Chesterton police
said in their report.
CPD is
investigating under the assumption that the same pair was responsible for
the CVS incident where police said a woman entered the CVS at approximately
7:10 p.m. June 11, walked to the liquor aisle, put two bottles of Woodford
Reserve Kentucky Bourbon in her purse, and left the store without paying.
Police said CVS
staff at that time advised the woman left the scene as a passenger in a
silver Ford that headed northbound on Ind. 49. An officer later intercepted
a similar vehicle with occupants who resembled the given descriptions in the
parking lot of the Jewel and began a pursuit westbound on Indian Boundary
that led back to northbound Ind. 49, then onto eastbound I-94.
The pursuing
officers reported the occupants of the vehicle, a tan-colored 2010 Ford
Taurus sedan with a handicap license plate, registered to a Merrillville
address, began throwing liquor bottles out of the vehicle at mile-marker 27,
throwing a total of eight bottles. Police said they were made aware that
neither occupant of the vehicle was the registered owner after running the
license plate. The CPD notified the Michigan State Police of the situation
and terminated the pursuit at the state line.
Police estimate the
loss from Jewel at approximately $194 and the loss at CVS at approximately
$80.