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NYC bodegas padlock laundry detergent as shoplifting scourge hits new low
“I put the detergent in jail,” lamented Jose Dario Collado, owner of Yankee Food Deli in University Heights, which began locking up $27.99 bottles of Tide.
nypost.com
NYC bodegas padlock laundry detergent as shoplifting scourge hits new low
By
Matthew Sedacca
January 21, 2023 1:26pm
Updated
They’re joining the chain gang.
Desperate Bronx grocers are cracking down on serial thieves by slipping steel chains through the handles of laundry detergent bottles and securing them with padlocks — a new low in the shoplifting scourge across the Big Apple.
“I put the detergent in jail,” lamented Jose Dario Collado, owner of Yankee Food Deli in University Heights, which began locking up $27.99 bottles of Tide and $12.99 containers of Dreft because thieves were cleaning up — to the tune of at least $1,000 a month in detergent alone.
“Before the pandemic, New York was the best. Now, I don’t know what happened to the people,” huffed Collado.
Four miles away at Pamela’s Green Deli in Crotona Park East, the ‘Tide’ has also turned.
Near the back of the store, $21.99 bottles of Gain and $6.99 bottles of Era detergents are secured with a yellow chain and Tuff Stuff padlocks.
Jose Dario Collado began locking up the expensive detergent at his Bronx bodega a few months ago after losing $1,000 a month to shoplifters.J.C.Rice
“It makes people know that you’re aware that they’re stealing, so they’re gonna stop,” said Fernando Rodriguez, the 59-year-old deli owner, who paid $15 for the new security measure.
“We gotta confront those guys and sometimes we’re even scared,” he added. “Sometimes they’re coming armed when we don’t know.”
The lock-and-chain strategy was hatched by the United Bodegas of America in the wake of spiking thefts, explained Fernando Mateo, the organization’s president.
Bodegas like Pamela’s Green Deli are locking up detergent to prevent thieves from stealing the pricey merchandise. J.C.Rice
“The justice system is just not cooperating, and it’s getting to a point where you either have to padlock every item that has to be stolen, or you have to fight back,” said Mateo. “And if you fight back you take the risk of going to jail for protecting your property.”
The city’s shoplifting crisis is showing no signs of abating, with petit larceny — or theft of less than $1,000 — up 14% this year through Jan. 15, compared to the same time period in 2022, according to NYPD data.
Residents stunned by the latest security inconvenience said the neighborhood’s junkie hordes were mostly to blame, as is the city’s revolving-door justice system.
Residents blamed drug addicts and the lax justice system for the chained up detergents in their bodegas. J.C.Rice The United Bodegas of America advised its members to use chains and padlocks to secure pricey products. J.C.Rice
“We live in a neighborhood where it’s a lot of drug addicts,” said Tylique Miles, 41, adding the thieves quickly flip the high-priced staples at a discount.
“The police can’t do anything to help,” griped Manuel San Miguel, 61, alluding to the state’s 2019 controversial bail reform law that bans judges from setting bail in cases involving non-violent felonies and misdemeanors such as shoplifting.
A group representing 4,000 independent grocers is demanding that “repeat theft offenders” be made bail eligible, undoing part of the bail reform legislation — and addressing the fact that petty thieves tend not to be prosecuted.
“They know that they could steal at less than $1,000, and they know they’ll get away,” cried Rodriguez. “The bail has to be changed. They’ve got to punish [these] people.”