A 55-year-old serial looter in Seattle was again caught, this time on tape stealing a 70-inch TV from a Target store, marking “his 22nd theft from the same store in three months.”
John Ray Lomack was caught on camera giving the television the once over at a Target store in Seattle before loading it up into his trolley and walking out without paying.
CCTV footage shows Lomack, who is believed to be homeless, brazenly walk towards the store’s exit while security staff attempt to stop him – at once they succeed in preventing him from leaving through the revolving door – but Lomack simply walks off and goes out via a different door.
A court document claims: “At no point in time did he attempt to pay for the item.”
Once outside, the shoplifter appears to pause to catch his breath from the struggle, before finally being busted by cops called to the scene.
The normally $750 UHD TV, had been on sale for $599.99. Of note, the serial shoplifter had stolen no less than $6,000 worth of property from the Target location since October, KTTH reported.
During his arrest, one of the responding officers immediately recognizes Lomack as a person trespassing from Target for multiple thefts.
A King County prosecutor called for Lomack to be held on $5,000 bail, noting ‘warrant activity’ on his 32 prior cases dating back to 1985. The charges represented only a fraction of the accusations against him, a spokesperson for the office told KTTH.
However, Judge Kuljinder Dhillon ignored the pleas and instead released Lomack on his own personal recognizance.
The judge was already under fire for the previous leniency, including lowering a $25,000 bail request to just $1,000 for a homeless man accused of gouging the eye of a Seattle police officer, KTTH reported.
Prosecutors warned that Lomack would just strike again — and he was back in court on Jan. 26, where he was again released by another judge, Judge Melinda Young, KTTH reported.
Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the Kings County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, told the outlet that they were ‘concerned with the defendant’s pattern of repeat behavior.’
“We’re also concerned he’s unlikely to return to court with his extensive criminal history that includes warrant activity on 32 cases,” the office said of its pleas ignored by both judges, KTTH said.
Staff at Target, meanwhile, told the station that shoplifters strike at least once every 10 minutes. “Homeless people have completely taken over downtown Seattle,” KTTH host Jason Rantz claimed.
Watch the video report below for more details:
Thomas Cooper