Women go after designer jeans in Plato's Closet robbery

BROOKFIELD (WITI) -- A Brookfield clothing store is ripped off in the middle of the day! Three women made off with hundreds of dollars worth of designer jeans. It happened Sunday, March 9th just before noon at Plato's Closet on West Bluemound Road in Brookfield. The manager thinks it was all planned out -- and hopes surveillance video will help police catch the thieves.

It is the time of year people are going through their closets and unloading last season's fashion.

"Any change of season is a busy time for us," store manager Ellen Bittner said.

Plato's Closet employees described Sunday's incident to FOX6 News on Monday.

"Three young girls came into the store," Bittner said.

"Headed straight for the rack and beelined it right out the door," Lataviann HOlmes said.

Plato's Closet employees say they believe the women headed straight for the designer jeans for a reason.

"Because it's worth the most money," Sarah Carlson said.

Bittner says after loading up on jeans, the women went through tops. 10 minutes after walking in, the surveillance video shows them running out.

"All of our clothes and accessories are all security censored, so all of our alarms went off -- as well as our assistant manger saw them bolting out the door," Bittner said.

Bittner says in addition to the 10 minutes of surveillance video, they also have a description of the vehicle the women jumped into and a partial plate number.

Apparently, the women had a getaway driver waiting in the parking lot.

When Carlson found out about what happened, she says she called the store to make sure everyone was okay.

"I still think it's ridiculous that somebody has to steal from a second-hand clothing store," Carlson said.

Holmes had a shift on Sunday afternoon and says one of the things employees do to prevent shoplifting is greet and chat with every customer coming in.

"If we say hello, and you kind of look away or try to be engaged with something else we know to keep an eye on you," Holmes said.

The staff at Plato's is entering its busy season, and hopes this kind of behavior isn't something they'll have to deal with more.

City of Brookfield police are hoping to get a look at the store's surveillance video as the investigation continues.