Suspect sprints away with $2,300 shoes from Columbus mall, camera shows

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A man made off with shoes worth more than $2,000 from a store inside the Polaris Fashion Place mall in Columbus. The Columbus Division of Police released a security camera video from March 19 that showed the suspect trying on shoes and flip-flops on a chair inside Saks Fifth Avenue. He [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A man made off with shoes worth more than $2,000 from a store inside the Polaris Fashion Place mall in Columbus.

The Columbus Division of Police released a security camera video from March 19 that showed the suspect trying on shoes and flip-flops on a chair inside Saks Fifth Avenue. He then got up and walked around the store to test out a pair of flip-flops.

While the luxury store's employees were visiting with other shoppers, the suspect then sat back down at the chair. The security camera captured him keeping a lookout for the workers while taking one pair of Saks' shoes out of their box, and stuffing them inside a drawstring bag. The suspect then took a break and checked his phone before repeating the process and moving a red pair of shoes to his bag.

The man then got up and began to walk out of the store with his bag. When one of the Saks workers noticed and tried to stop him, the security camera showed the suspect turn around and run out of the store in the opposite direction. The employee tried to chase him, but Columbus police said the suspect got away into the mall without paying.

Investigators asked anyone with information regarding the theft or the suspect to email one of its detectives or call 614-645-2091.