FORT MYERS, Fla.- Bikini Bandits stole more than $1,500 in bathing suits from Victoria's Secret in the Bell Tower Shops.
Investigators said three women went into the Victoria's secret at the shopping center, and one stuffed bikini tops and bottoms into her baggy pants and walked out of the store without paying.
The report said a worker thought the woman needed help carrying the suits around the store as she shopped and even offered her a bag to put the bathing suits in while in the store.
"I was surprised, honestly. We have security guards that are here every day that are constantly patrolling, so it's definitely hard to believe," said Amanda Ivers, manager of Saratoga Sundress, a boutique in the Bell Tower Shops.
According to a Lee County Sheriff's Office report, three women walked into the Victoria's Secret at the Bell Tower Shops, one wearing baggy clothing, two with several facial piercings.
The woman in the baggy clothes started stuffing several bathing suit tops and bottoms into her pants.
She walked out of the store without paying for more than $1,500 in bikinis.
"That's a big surprise. You think, to get away with a little here and there might be easier," said Tori Maurillo, the manager of Anchored, located next to Victoria's Secret.
Maurillo said their store has seen theft before. "It puts us in a position where we do have to be extra careful for the people that come into our store, and we don't want to make people who want to spend money in our store feel uncomfortable," Maurillo said.
When Four in Your Corner's Lisa Greenberg gave Ivers the description of the women, she said it sounded familiar.
"There was a few girls matching that description that came in here this past weekend asking where they could buy bathing suits," Ivers said.
Ivers said she always pays attention when shoppers are browsing the stores dresses, bags, and jewelry, but now she'll definitely be on higher alert. "I think them knowing that you see them is the biggest thing. If they think they're invisible, then of course they are going to see what they can get away with," Ivers said.
Victoria's Secret has a policy that workers are not allowed to stop thieves in the store, and this worker had to wait for the women to leave before calling authorities.
The suit snatchers are still on the run, so if you have any information at all, you're asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS.
