Anti-theft technology installed on a store shopping cart failed to prevent a man from stealing beer and other items from a Giant supermarket in upper Bucks County, police said Wednesday.
Hilltown Township Police want to identify the man pictured in this surveillance image taken at the Giant supermarket on Rt. 113 Feb. 25. The man is suspected of stealing more than $160 in beer, dog food and other items, police said. (Credit: Hilltown Township Police/Crimewatch)
According to Hilltown Township Police, the unidentified male suspect visited the store at 760 Rt. 113, Souderton, on Sunday afternoon and filled a cart with “various items which included dog food, Victory Sour Monkey and Southern Tier beers.”
Police noted that the man “concealed some of the items inside reusable bags” before exiting the store.
As he did so, they said the wheels on the cart he was pushing automatically locked because unpaid merchandise was electronically detected by a device installed on the buggy.
Undeterred, the man then reportedly dragged the cart to his vehicle–which police described as a red SUV–and left the scene.
Police shared two photos of the unidentified suspect, who they said made off with approximately $166 in stolen merchandise at around 4:30 p.m. Feb. 25.
The man appears to be white and was wearing a black knit hat and a grey hoodie with “CALI-FOR-NIA” written in large block letters on the front at the time of the theft.
The post Hilltown Police shared on their Crimewatch page–titled “A Giant Tale”–also references the man’s height, which judging from a store surveillance photo appears to be in excess of six feet.
Anyone who can identify him is being asked to contact Sgt. John Gildea of the Hilltown Township Police Department at jgildea@hilltownpd.org or 215-453-6000, ext. 307.
It’s not clear if all Giant store carts are now equipped with the anti-theft, wheel-locking technology that is meant to foil shoplifters like the man police now hope to identify.
A September 2023 news story published by WFMZ noted that the company had recently deployed anti-theft technology designed to prevent carts from being taken off store property.
According to the story, the carts’ wheels will lock if someone attempts to push them beyond a perimeter that exists outside the stores. However, it makes no reference to the anti-theft wheel locks being used inside stores, and notes that company officials declined to discuss the specifics of their anti-theft measures.
A comment posted by a WFMZ reader in November indicated that the anti-theft devices capable of locking a cart’s wheels at a store entry point were in use at the Quakertown Giant at that time.
Although Hilltown Police did not provide an estimate of the suspect’s height, they referred to him online as a “giant,” in a play on words. The name of the store where the theft occurred is Giant. (Credit: Hilltown Township Police/Crimewatch)