South Orange Shops Victims of Shoplifting Scam

Two stores in South Orange told police that they were victims of shoplifting on Sunday by a group of four people – three women and a man – all wearing white robes.

Kitchen a la Mode owner Ben Salmon said that at about 12:40 p.m. one of the women distracted him by asking questions in broken English with a Middle Eastern accent about different items, while the others wandered around the store, apparently placing items under their robes.

“I thought [one of the women] was holding her robe up so that it wouldn’t sweep against the floor and get dirty,” Salmon told Patch the next day.  “She was actually holding the pan. You just don’t expect that. It’s crazy.”

Among the items taken from the store were copper pans, All-Clad LTD2 pans, Swiss Diamond non-stick pans, a set of knives and a heavy roasting pan, which included a rack for turkey and some lifting forks. Salmon estimates the stolen merchandise to be worth $1,500. 

The owner of , also in downtown South Orange, told police that on Dec. 5 at approximately 12:45 p.m., four people, described similarly as those in the kitchen store including their white robes, entered the apparel shop.  The owner said about five minutes after they left the store, he discovered several articles of clothing had been stolen.