A video-still shot of the man entering the office. SEE VIDEO BELOW
A suspected thief was caught on camera this morning, daringly entering and leaving the National Initiative to Create Employment (NICE) Project Office in the Blue Coral Shopping Mall in Castries.
A representative of the NICE office, located on the third floor of the Mall, told St. Lucia News Online (SNO) that the incident occurred at about 8:30 a.m. in the “back office”, which is not open to the general public. The front office was occupied at the time.
The representative, who prefers not to use her name, said the culprit stole a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, a DL700 cell phone, and a wallet containing cards and personal documents.
“The Mall opens at 8 a.m. and it is a high traffic area. This individual entered a back office. The occupant had stepped away for a brief moment. He probably was monitoring the situation,” the source said. “Normally you would have to go through the main office to be allowed access to this office.”
St. Lucia News Online (SNO) obtained three security surveillance video clips of the suspect: one with him rushing up the steps of the Mall with the footage labelled “First Floor – South”; a five-second clip showing him walking on the first floor near the elevator, and a one-minute clip showing him appearing to talk on a cell phone as he enters the office, then exiting about 28 seconds later.
Combined video-still images of the suspected thief. SEE VIDEO BELOW STORY.
His face was not visible in any of the clips; he wore a cap and had a small bag. It is believed that the culprit knows the office building very well.
“That’s what we are suspecting because he deliberately avoided having his face shown,” the company representative said.