Shoplifter busted with 76 bras

If Francis Salazar has learned any lesson, it’s likely that he won’t steal another bra again—let alone 76.

Still, he must have had a rush of illicit pleasure stuffing the female underwear in his backpack—except he didn’t reckon that the boutique he was swiping these from had sensors.

The 24-year-old, jobless Salazar was arrested at around 9 p.m. on Sunday at a lifestyle and clothing store inside SM San Lazaro mall along F. Huertas Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila, and charged with theft.

Posing as a customer at the ladies underwear section and apparently thinking nobody was watching him, Salazar started stuffing as  many brassieres he could get his hands on into his backpack, according to a report from the Sta. Cruz Station 3 commander, Supt. James Afalla.

Salazar quickly headed for the exit with his loot—when the boutique’s sensors sounded off.

First-timer

An alert security guard, Jelyn Victirian, immediately grabbed Salazar and brought him to the mall’s security office.

Upon inspection of his backpack, guards found 76 brassieres—each worth P342.90, or amounting to P26,060.

At the police station’s holding cell, Salazar on Tuesday admitted stealing the bras. He said it was his first time to shoplift.

“My friends and I were drinking when they asked me, ‘Do you want to earn lots of money?’ When I told them ‘yes,’ they told me to steal some items from that store and sell these,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Asked why he chose to steal bras, he said that he thought they would be easy to sell on the streets. “I would have sold them at P100 each,” he said.

Salazar claimed he had just lost his job as a housekeeper at a manpower services agency.

Expressing remorse, he said he never thought he would get caught. “I did not know the store had sensors,” he smiled sheepishly.

Salazar is detained at the police station pending his transfer to the city jail.

No forgiveness

The Station 3 desk officer, Police Officer 3 Boy Cunanan, told the Inquirer that in some cases of shoplifting, the stores simply choose to allow the thieves to pay for the stolen items.

“It depends on the store,” Cunanan said. “Sometimes the store would demand a shoplifter to pay 10 or 20 times the amount of the stolen item in exchange for not filing charges.”

Most victims, however, pursue their cases in court, the officer said.