Must-Have Shoplifting Item This Year: Underwear

A woman is suspected of stealing $10,500 in underwear from an Atlanta Victoria’s Secret. Photo: Atlanta Police.

Shopping for underwear as a Christmas gift can be tough. It’s a very personal item and the variety of styles and fashions can be overwhelming.

Shoplifting underwear this season? Apparently very easy and a lucrative find for thieves.

In one case a woman and her accomplice were caught shoplifting $1,500 in underwear from a Virginia Macy’s store, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch report.

The prosecutor in the case says he’s seen at least five other similar cases. In each scenario, the suspects were seeking money for drugs.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert J. Windle said the underwear is easy to conceal and holds its value when thieves are reselling.

“They don’t have to necessarily know what it is,” loss prevention expert J. Patrick Murphy told the paper. “They just look at the price tag and they say, ‘That’s pretty expensive; I ought to be able to get some money.’ ”

Last week, TMZ shared footage of ex-Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle stealing underwear and a tester bottle of cologne from a Texas department store in 2014. He was sentenced to six months probation.

In another case last week, a man was arrested when he allegedly tried to wear several pairs of underwear in a foiled shoplifting attempt at a North Dakota Wal-Mart.

Not surprisingly, Victoria’s Secret appears to be a hot spot for thieves grabbing high-value undergarments.

A Victoria’s Secret in Cleveland reported a man and woman stole $600 in underwear last month. In August, two women stuffed their purses with $750 in underwear at a store in Athens, Ga.

But the biggest heist may be a February case in Atlanta, where a woman filled three shopping bags with 785 pairs of underwear, worth an estimated $10,500.