Thieving Pair Distracts Pharmacy Staff to Steal Perfume

A pair of thieves used distraction tactics to steal from an independent pharmacy in Katy, Texas.

George Attalla, whose father started the family pharmacy business, expressed disbelief and sadness that the robbers got away with stealing almost $2000 worth of products in plain view.

“I’m surprised someone has the heart to do such a thing,” Attalla told ABC13. “They would come to the pharmacy and a small business...and steal.”

A man dressed in blue and a woman with a big purse arrived at the Texas pharmacy on July 7, 2015. The man allegedly told a pharmacy technician named Cynthia Hernandez that he needed Band-Aids and asked her to escort him to the right aisle.

With Hernandez distracted, the man’s partner in crime wheeled around to the perfume area and started stealing some of the more expensive ones from brands like Cartier, Gucci, and Lacoste.

The pharmacy captured video surveillance footage of the event and is hoping that the suspects will be recognized and caught, ABC13 reported.

“She had a bag, and every once a while, she’ll look around,” Attalla told ABC13. “She'll take one, and put it in, and take another one, and put it in, as if it was candy.”

The next day, a member of the pharmacy staff discovered how much perfume had been stolen when reviewing the inventory.

“We're in the health care business, so we help people. If he [had] come and [told] us he was short on cash, we would probably help him,” Attalla told ABC13. “But to come and do this, they deserve to go to jail.”