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Shoplifters Use Pepper Spray On Macy's Employees

LONE TREE, Colo. (CBS4)- Authorities are searching for the suspects wanted for spraying store employees with pepper spray or some other chemical spray while attempting to steal merchandise.

The Lone Tree Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office are asking for the public's help in identifying three people wanted in two separate but similar robberies. Both happened at Macy's stores, at Southwest Plaza and Park Meadows Mall.

About 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, three Hispanic males went into Macy's at the Southwest Plaza Mall in Jefferson County and two of the males grabbed numerous Polo clothing items with the intent to steal the merchandise.

When sales associates told them they needed to pay for the clothing, one of the males reached in his pocket and pulled out a can with a chemical agent and sprayed the store associates along with a loss prevention associate.

Macy's 1
(credit: Jefferson County Sheriff)

As the suspects left the store, they continued to spray the chemical agent to keep from being followed. The chemical agent also affected customers who were in the same area the robbery occurred.

The suspects ran out of the store and into a gold or tan Chevrolet Tahoe or similar SUV with no front license plate.

The first of three suspects has been described as an Hispanic male, 5-foot-6, 180 pounds, wearing a black jacket and shirt with dark baggy pants, an orange Broncos ball cap with a goatee and a tattoo on the right side of his neck.

The second suspect described as an Hispanic male, 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, a black and grey ball cap and tattoos on his hands.

The third suspect is described as an Hispanic male, 5-foot-8, 160 pounds, wearing a black pullover jacket with orange stripes under the arms.

They stole a red Polo hooded jacket at the Southwest Plaza Mall and one of the male suspects was later seen wearing the stolen jacket in store surveillance video at Park Meadows Mall during a similar incident about two hours later.

That same day, Lone Tree police responded to reports of a robbery at the Macy's in the Park Meadows Mall. When they arrived, a female loss prevention officer had been sprayed in the face with pepper spray.

Officers learned there were three suspects, two males and a female in this incident, who had walked around the store and picked up various items of clothing from the Polo section. As they tried to walk out of the store, the female loss prevention officer attempted to contact the suspects. Another male suspect who came in from the outside was standing by the exit doors as he sprayed the loss prevention officer in the face with pepper spray.

Macy's 3
(credit: Jefferson County Sheriff)

All four suspects ran outside to a waiting vehicle driven by an unknown suspect. The vehicle was described as a light-colored Chevrolet Tahoe or GMC Yukon which matched the description of the suspect vehicle involved in the earlier incident at Southwest Plaza.

The suspects got away with an undisclosed amount of merchandise and the loss prevention employee was treated and released for her exposure to pepper spray.

The first of three suspects is described as an Hispanic male, late teens to early 20s, 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, wearing a red jacket with a grey shirt underneath and dark pants.

The second suspect is described as an Hispanic female, late teens to early 20s, 5-foot-three, 160 pounds, wearing a red pullover hoodie, dark pants and dark shoes.

The third suspect is described as an Hispanic female, late teens to early 20s, 5-foot-7, 150 pounds, wearing a black zip hoodie, red pants with dark shoes and wearing large hoop earrings.

If you have information related to these individuals or these two cases, please contact Crime Stoppers 720-913-7867 (STOP); Lone Tree Police Department Tip line 720-509-1160; or Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Tip Line 303-271-5612.

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