The Wyandotte news-herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1943-1963, 1946-01-31
..... by
strauss
gantZ
Shoplifters Paradise!

-
capital Of the world, may soon have
competition at least as far
as slogans go. The slippery fingers
crowd both local and from afar
refer to our fair city as the
SHOPLIFTERS PARADISE or
the easy touch town.
Headlines on Monday told how
serious has become the shoplifting
racket how one store caught
81 snitchers in one month how
worried are the police &. how up
set are the Chamber of Commerce.
That news story was mild. Only
fraction Of the theft cases are ever
reported to the police. Much more
Of the merchandise is never dis
covered lost until inventory time at
the end OF the year. Truthfully,
Wyandotte is to the shoplifter what
Miami Beach is to the sun-tan seek
er paradise. Miami encourages
its visitors by advertising. Wyan-
dotte accomplishes the same thing
by seldom publicizing a crook when
he Dot Of shes, tool is caught.
The shoplifting crowd all know
that wyandotte merchants are too
kind-hearted to prosecute. A scold-
ing naughty, naughty is
the usual punishment. There's
stiff penalty for shoplifting but the
judges seldom get a case.
Switching merchandise Is no lon
ger a kids game. Grownups have
made a business of it. Some shoplift
lust for the thrill Of stealing and
not being caught. Others steal be-
cause they are crooks at heart. The
greater majority steal because they
need the stuff and have no
money 10 pay for it. The present
wave OF strikes and resultant long
periods OF unemployment has turned
many men land their wives, INTO
shoplifters. These folks do most OF
their light lingering In the food
markets usually the big super
markets.
When this type Of shoplifter is
caught the merchant hates to ar
rest. After hearing their stories OF
hungry kids at home and no money
to buy food the store keeper Is
usually tempted to take the shirt
off his back and throw that IN
for good measure.
Last week new type shoplifting
case hit one Of the stores One mer-
chans caught red-handed stealing
IN another store. According to the
shory it has been going on for quite
.oue time. The guilty merchant Is
a greasy spoon operator. Buys his
meat and stuffs the packages IN
his big overcoat. Then he shops Tor
his groceries. When he is ready to
leave the store he neatly pays only
for the groceries. His two-oit nam
burgers are clear profit.
n. had been suspected OF this Tor
quite some time. Last week the trap
was set. No, he wasn't arrested The
store manager Is a soft-hearted guy.
Most adept person in town Tor
catching shoplifters is Eddie Wen
70, at Asmus Bros. He has
caught so many that the grapevine
10 the light finger crowd passes the
word around stay away from
Asmus Bros. It's dynamitel
Best shoplifting story happened
years ago. A middle-aged man peck
eted an alarm clock in the Sears
store. He was spotted by a store
detective. The gent made for the
door the detective right behind.
Outside. the thief started to run.
/. The detective let out yell, stop
that xl:::Oi'" The late council
man James Mason was turning the
corner wnen he heard the yell and
saw the man running toward him
like a sprinter on race track
Jimmy nonchalantly stuck out his
foot. When the police picked up the
thief he was dripping blood like a
sieve. They had to pick pieces OF
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