In a recent incident at a Lululemon store in Georgia, four individuals were arrested and charged with stealing merchandise worth $7,000. Surprisingly, the staff members who reported the crime were subsequently fired. The robbery was captured on surveillance cameras, which aided in the identification and apprehension of the suspects.
The arrested individuals include Bayo Allen (19), Quintavious Gooch (19), Braylon Shivers (20), and Nicholas Lynch (26). According to Fox 5 Atlanta, Shivers, Gooch, and Allen remain in custody at Georgia’s Fayette County Jail.
Booking records reveal that Allen and Gooch have been charged with “theft by shoplifting” and “theft by receiving stolen property.” Both individuals are being held on a bond amounting to nearly $15,000.
Shivers, in addition to the theft charges, also faces a marijuana possession charge and is being held on a bond of approximately $17,000.
A video of the April incident, shared by the husband of former assistant manager Jennifer Ferguson, exposed the repeated robberies that had taken place at the store. Jennifer Ferguson claimed she was terminated for contacting the police regarding the masked thieves.
According to Jason Ferguson’s post, the thieves had targeted the store numerous times before, with no action taken by Lululemon to prevent the robberies or ensure the safety of its employees. The company’s handbook contains a policy that prohibits employees from interfering in robberies for their own protection. Instead, employees were instructed to scan a QR code after the incident and essentially overlook the crime.
Store associate Rachel Rogers, aged 23, recorded the latest robbery and revealed that the Peachtree Corners store had been repeatedly targeted by the same group of thieves for several weeks. She noted that the thieves consistently struck the store approximately an hour before closing time, swiftly grabbing merchandise from the fixtures near the exit before fleeing in their getaway car.
According to a Lululemon spokesperson, four individuals wearing similar clothing had also been involved in robbing another Lululemon store in the Atlanta area during the same week. It remains unclear whether the suspects have been charged in connection with both robberies.
In the video, Jennifer Ferguson, a mother of four, can be seen urging the thieves to leave the store as they swiftly snatched leggings and an accomplice held the door open. The employees followed the group outside without physically attempting to stop them and promptly called the Gwinnett Police Department. Despite the suspects allegedly changing the license plate on their red Subaru SUV, the police were able to track down the getaway car.
The information provided by Ferguson and Rogers led to the suspects’ arrest the following day when they attempted to rob another Lululemon store in Peachtree City.
Ferguson and Rogers claimed they were terminated for their attempts to prevent the theft and for violating the “no-tolerance policy” outlined in the employee handbook, which prohibits interfering in a robbery.
Lululemon, in response, clarified that the employees were not fired for contacting the police but rather for breaching the company’s policy regarding physical engagement with perpetrators, which was established to ensure employee and public safety. The company emphasized that employees are instructed to call 911, as stated in the handbook.
Jennifer Ferguson stated, “We are not supposed to get in the way. You kind of clear the path for whatever they’re going to do… And then, after it’s over, you scan a QR code. And that’s that. We’ve been told not to put it in any notes because that might scare other people. We’re not supposed to call the police, not really