Police officers who raided a couple's hotel room found 12 suitcases crammed with Lululemon goods, prosecutors have said.
Jadion Anthony Richards, 44, and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, 45, who were arrested on November 14 in Woodbury, Minnesota, face allegations that they were part of a $1 million shoplifting gang that targeted Lululemon stores across the U.S.
According to a criminal complaint, after the couple's arrest, police officers searched a hotel room in Bloomington, Minnesota, and found a dozen suitcases with $50,000 worth of Lululemon clothes—with the price tags still attached.
The complaint said Richards refused to speak to the police after the arrest. Lawes-Richards, however, denied being at a Lululemon store in Rosedale, Minnesota, the day before, when a major theft had occurred.
After searching the pair, the police found that Richards had a key card to the JW Marriott hotel in Bloomington.
The couple is originally from Danbury, Connecticut, and Lawes-Richards said they were staying with her aunt, not at a hotel.
The police obtained a search warrant for the hotel room, where they found the 12 suitcases packed with Lululemon goods from various stores, the criminal complaint said.
The complaint also alleged that the couple stole from Lululemon stores in Connecticut, Colorado, New York and Utah.
Richards and Lawes-Richards have each been charged with one felony count of organized retail theft, according to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office in Minnesota.
Since their arrest, Richards was released on a $100,000 bond, while Lawes-Richards was released on a $30,000 bond. They are scheduled to appear in court on December 16.
Prosecutors had asked for a $1 million bond for each of them, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office said in a statement.
The office alleged in its criminal complaint that the couple orchestrated thefts of up to $1 million from Lululemon, which mostly sells female athletic clothing.
Newsweek contacted Lululemon and Lawes-Richards for comment by email and social media, respectively, outside normal business hours.
A Lululemon investigator, identified in the criminal complaint by the initials R.P., recognized the couple when they allegedly carried out a major theft in the Rosedale store.
"Between October 29, 2024 and October 30, 2024, RP documented eight theft incidents in Colorado involving Richards and Lawes-Richards and an unidentified woman," the criminal complaint said.
It added: "The group worked together using specific organized retail crime tactics such as blocking and distraction of associates to commit large thefts.
"They selected coats and jackets and held them up as if they were looking at them in a manner that blocked the view of staff and other guests while they selected and concealed items. They removed security sensors using a tool of some sort at multiple stores."
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