PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 03, 2021
Keizer crime featured
on national television
A Lowes located in Keizer Station
BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Of the Keizertimes
Three months ago, a Keizer resident
filmed as two men loaded thousands of
dollars worth of electrical wire into their
Lowe’s shopping carts, walked past a pow-
erless security guard and drove off with
the stolen merchandise. The video, filmed
in Keizer on Aug. 23, received over 25,000
views in less than a week and angered
community members with how “blatant”
the crime was.
No arrests have been made in connec-
tion to the crime — but that didn’t stop
celebrity TV host Dr. Phil from exploring
the issue on a Dec. 2 episode of his show.
In an episode titled “License to Steal:
The Shoplifting Crisis” Dr. Phil explored
“the current shoplifting crisis that is sweep-
ing the nation” and brought on Keizer
resident Andrew Sullivan, who filmed the
Lowe’s theft, and Keizer police Lt. Andrew
Copeland to discuss the issue. The episode
aired at 3 p.m. on Dec. 2 on KOIN channel
6, after press time for the paper.
The show was filmed live on Nov. 10
and while Sullivan appeared over Skype
for the conversation, Copeland said pro-
ducers flew him down to Hollywood for a
couple of days to appear on the show live.
“It was a good experience. What I really
appreciate is Dr. Phil’s perspective on life
in general. I think he is a good man,” said
Copeland. “He was really appreciative of
the other sergeant and I when we came on
the show and he treated us really well.”
A Tucscon store manager, whose
physical confrontation with a shoplifter
was caught on video and went viral,
also appeared on the show. Sullivan and
Copeland both said one of the more inter-
esting interviews on the show was with a
FILE PHOTO, Keizertimes
self-admitted organized retail criminal.
“They had a career shoplifter that made
like $250,000 a year shoplifting. They muf-
fled his voice and covered his face,” said
Sullivan. “But overall, I think it’s going to be
a pretty good show. It’s really interesting.”
One of the main topics discussed during
the episode, according to Sullivan and
Copeland, was the inability for law enforce-
ment to punish shoplifters. Copeland said
if he’d caught the Lowe’s shoplifters in the
parking lot on Aug. 23, all he would have
been able to do is hand them a ticket and
hope they show up to court.
“Property crimes right now — stolen
cars, shoplifts, anything that’s property
related — the Marion County jail has told
us they’re not taking right now,” said
Copeland. “So we give a ticket to show
up to court in roughly 30 days in hopes
that they will show up. The likelihood of
someone, this (Lowe’s shoplifting) group
especially, showing up to court in 30 days
probably would not happen. And then they
would get a fail to appear warrant.”
Copeland said large stores such as
Lowe’s often won’t call police about thefts
and if the store doesn’t call, police can’t do
anything according to Copeland.
Lt. Trevor Wenning, spokesperson for
the Keizer Police Department, said that in
late October the department identified at
least one suspect in the Lowe’s theft. He
said the department referred the case to
the district attorney’s office in late October
and KPD is still waiting to see if the office
plans to file charges.
Sullivan said the conversation on Dr.
Phil, which he described as an “open
forum,” centered on the current challenges
to stopping shoplifters and what the possi-
ble solutions might be.
“It’s up to us as citizens to change
things, it’s not the police. They just enforce,
I get it. But we all need to sit down and
come up with some kind of a solution,”
said Sullivan.
The show aired on CBS, which is KOIN
6 in the Salem and Portland area, at 3 p.m.
on Thursday, Dec. 2. A CBS spokesperson
was unable to give a date that the episode
would be re-aired but said clips of the show
would be available on their website and
YouTube page.