On June 12, the two women were captured on video at the Apple Store in the Houston Galleria spending $4,000 on a Macbook Pro and accessories.
The duo also spent $8,000 at the Louis Vuitton store and $3,000 at the Best Buy on Richmond Ave. before the theft was even reported.
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Around 12:30 p.m. that day, Julia Gast went to the Kroger on Echo Lane at I-10 West. Like many women, she shopped for groceries with her purse in her shopping cart.
"I had my cart next to me, I never left it unattended. I probably just turned away for a second and they were following me," said Gast.
By the time she made it to the checkout counter 15 minutes later, the thieves were already out shopping with her cards.
"I had my phone in my hand, and I started getting alerts from all my credit card companies asking if the charges were approved or not," she said.
In the Apple Store video, you can see the women giving the cashier a card to swipe, and the cashier appears to look at an ID in the wallet.
Gast suspects the woman showed the clerk her ID, which was also stolen. Both Gast and the woman on the video have long hair, and the woman in the video had most of her face under a baseball cap.
"Don't bring a big purse, just the essentials," said Hedwig Village Police Detective Terry Wu. "A credit card, a backup card, and ID. Don't carry so much stuff with you when you go shop."
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Detective Wu also has advice for retailers: double check everyone's ID, no matter the purchase. In addition, he wants retailers to be more responsive with their security video.
"We asked for video from Louis Vuitton, Best Buy and Apple. Apple is the first to get back to us," said Wu.
Nobody from Louis Vuitton or Best Buy have gotten back to the detective with surveillance video.
If you know who these women may be, you are urged to call Hedwig Village Police.
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