Police track down 3 suspects in $5,000 perfume theft from California store

Redlands police again used technology on Saturday, April 1, to arrest suspects in the latest theft of thousands of dollars in merchandise from a beauty supply store.

At about 4:30 p.m., three people walked into the Ulta Beauty store in the Mountain Grove Shopping Center on San Bernardino Avenue and walked out with two white baskets of fragrances valued at $5,000, the department said.

They fled in a black Audi. Employees provided a description and officers spotted the car on the department’s video surveillance system, said Carl Baker, a department spokesman.

An officer pulled over the car near San Bernardino Avenue and the 210 Freeway and three people were arrested: two 56-year-old San Bernardino residents and a 34-year-old Victorville resident.

The stolen merchandise was found in the car, Baker said.

This was far from the biggest heist at that Ulta store. In December 2021, crooks made off with $12,000 in merchandise.

Those suspects were caught as well. Redlands police, working with stores and shopping center owners, have for years spotted, followed and arrested suspects by using video surveillance and tracking devices. And as a result, the department in 2022 received an award from the state Attorney General’s Office and the California Organized Retail Crime Association for breaking up a ring that had targeted Ulta and similar stores.