An alleged shoplifter was arrested with the help of a civilian who witnessed the man scuffling with a department store employee, the civilian had a gun and chased the suspect and fired his gun into the air.
According to an Olympia Police Department report, the civilian ran after the suspect, later identified as 23-year-old Christopher Morales Zambrano, after seeing him shoving a loss prevention officer for Macy’s in Capital Mall.
The suspect was arrested on December 16 after a Macy’s employee reported that a man stole several pieces of clothing, and a civilian was chasing him in the parking lot.
Zambrano was charged with second-degree robbery and second-degree theft by the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney on December 20.
The Macy’s loss prevention officer told police that she saw Zambrano taking several clothing items off racks. The merchandise was estimated to cost $1,753.99 in total. The employee said she stood at the exit waiting for the suspect as Zambrano had stolen from Macy’s before.
The employee said Zambrano walked toward her, passing all registers, and shoved the door into her when she identified herself as a loss prevention officer. A brief physical struggle broke out between the two, which ended with Zambrano running through the parking lot with the items still in hand.
The civilian told police that he was shopping at the store when he saw a disturbance at the south exit. He recalled seeing Zambrano pushing and shoving the Macy’s officer, leading him to believe that the suspect was stealing the employee’s purse.
The civilian said he yelled for Zambrano to stop when the suspect exited the store. He ran after Zambrano and, at one point, pulled out his handgun to fire one round into the air, according to the police report. He lost sight of Zambrano at the parking lot of Outback Steakhouse.
Outback Steakhouse staff later reported that the man ran into the establishment and hid in one of the booths while holding an armload of clothes.
Police located and detained Zambrano at the restaurant. According to an officer, Zambrano admitted to stealing clothes from Macy’s, explaining that he intended to sell the clothes to have money for food.
Zambrano initially insisted that two hats in his possession were not stolen, despite the hats still having the security tags on, but he later admitted to taking them from a Lids store inside Capital Mall.
Meanwhile, police recovered one used .380 casing in the parking lot. Police said the Prosecutor’s Office would review the case to determine whether charges would be filed against the civilian for discharging a firearm in public. A search of court data did not yield such a charge against him.
Zambrano was booked into the Thurston County Jail for second-degree robbery. He was first taken to the Capitol Medical Center for medical clearance after complaining of open sores on his body and admitting to smoking fentanyl earlier in the day.
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AugieH
How does a store "loss prevention officer" prevent thefts without any means to do so other than saying "You must pay for that"? Even just the minimum of pepper spray or a taser should be authorized.
Thursday, January 5, 2023 Report this
KatAshe
Sad this person is in such a terrible physical state, but having shown sympathy, he needs treatment and incarceration. As it appears he’s a serious drug user, I’m sure any money he could have gotten would have gone to purchasing more drugs, not food, which he would likely steal from local grocers.
Thursday, January 5, 2023 Report this
HarveysMom
My brother was subjected to systematic exploitation and outright theft at his downtown Oly apartment next to the Post Office, being a target for his DD. I yanked him out of there and in the process discovered they had taken ALL his bath towels, ALL his bed linens, all of his rolling luggage, his sneakers, his hiking boots, and his good winter coat as well as his valuables--his cell phone & Grand Pad, debit card and apartment keys. Yes, I'm talking about you - D Lopez and E Zamora, woman of two names and many friends.
My real point is this: where would thieves (like the Macy's thief Zambrano and the woman with two names) go to SELL these items? It looks to me like there are organized 'receivers of stolen goods' and we should also be arresting those 'fences'.
I'd like to know we are pursuing the 'receivers of stolen goods' as well as the thieves.
Thursday, January 5, 2023 Report this