Couple in de facto marriage caught stealing daily necessities from store

[Anchor]

A pair of thieves, a man and a woman, who habitually stole items from a household goods store during the day when there were many customers, have been caught by the police.

The woman selected items without anti-theft tags, and the man would take them and hide them, a method that was captured on CCTV.

Song Guk-hoe reports.

[Report]

In broad daylight, at a household goods store.

A woman wearing a hat is selecting items.

After checking prices on her phone, she puts the items into her bag.

A moment later, she exchanges glances with a man and quickly hands over the bag in a corner of the store.

Two days later, the man appears again, this time moving items from behind a display.

The theft was also captured at another nearby store.

When the woman selected an item to steal, the man would take it and exit first.

[Store Owner: "They just did it naturally without any hesitation. They filled their bags as if they were sweeping everything away...."]

They hid the stolen items in a nearby flower bed and continued their crimes.

The thefts mainly occurred during busy lunchtime hours.

They stole daily necessities such as cosmetics, slippers, and groceries, only selecting products without anti-theft tags.

[Store Employee: "(They must have known) that the alarm wouldn't go off, so they exploited that."]

After committing nine thefts in a month, they were caught by police who were on standby following a report from the store.

The duo, who worked well together, turned out to be a common-law couple.

[Kim Tae-yeon/Criminal Investigation Team Leader, Chungbuk Eumseong Police Station: "(The man) stated that his business struggled during COVID-19, leading to bankruptcy and a lack of living expenses, which prompted the crimes."]

The police have charged them with habitual special theft without detention and are investigating any additional crimes.

This is KBS News, Song Guk-hoe.