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- Thieves in California's East Bay are swiping wallets from shopping carts – especially at Trader Joe's, police say.
- "Wallets were taken from unattended shopping carts or open purses while victims were shopping," a Tri-Valley PD said.
- Businesses in the nearby cities of San Francisco and Oakland say they've been hit by rising crime.
A new crime trend is hitting Trader Joe's stores in a city in California: Thieves are taking customers' wallets from their carts as they shop.
Police in Livermore, a city of around 85,000 people about 35 miles north of San Jose, have warned residents to keep their eyes on their wallets.
"We recently came across a crime trend that we wanted to share with our community," Livermore Police Department wrote on Facebook on Thursday. "Recently there have been wallet thefts that have occurred at other Trader Joe stores in the Tri-Valley. In these crimes, wallets were taken from unattended shopping carts or open purses while victims were shopping in the store."
The department shared some tips shoppers could take to keep their belongings safe, including keeping valuables in a front pocket or a closed or zipped bag close to their body, and avoiding getting distracted by their phone.
The Tri-Valley, in California's East Bay area, is made up of Amador Valley, San Ramon Valley, and Livermore Valley.
Trader Joe's has just one store in Livermore, part of a retail complex that also includes a Michael's, a nail salon, a Kumon tutoring center, and a number of restaurants. But there are three other Trade Joe's stores in the Tri-Valley, located in Danville, Pleasanton, and San Ramon.
Danville Police Department posted on Facebook on Friday that it had received reports "about items being stolen from purses or purses themselves being stolen while people shop at local stores," though it noted that this was a "rare occurrence."
Business Insider has contacted Livermore Police Department to ask whether other retailers were affected by the rise is wallet theft alongside Trader Joe's. BI has also contacted Trader Joe's to enquire whether it had noticed an increase in this type of crime and what actions it was taking to tackle this.
Livermore is an affluent area. Data from the US Census Bureau shows that households earn about double the US average and that the proportion of the population aged 25 or over with a bachelor's degree or higher is more than a third higher than the California average.
Livermore is about a 45-minute drive from San Francisco and 35 minutes from Oakland. Danville is even closer.
San Francisco has been struggling with high homelessness and drug-use levels for years, and the city has seen a recent exodus of both residents and businesses who say it is not what it used to be and that crime is making it unliveable.
In Oakland, meanwhile, a Denny's and an In-N-Out Burger located near the city's airport both announced plans to close last month over concerns for staff and customer safety. In-N-Out's COO said that crime in the area was both frequent and severe.