At Patina, a series of thefts cost more than money

Patina Stores co-founder Christine Ward and about 200 other employees were breathing easier last week.

Tommy Dean Rock, 23, of Minneapolis was arrested Tuesday by Minneapolis police after a 911 call from employees.

Patina employees allege Rock and female accomplices stole from Patina stores at least seven times since winter.

Rock has been charged with felony theft and lying to police. He made an initial court appearance in Hennepin County District Court on Friday and remains in custody. He has yet to enter a plea.

"With shoplifters, we often wind up calling their parents or barring them from our stores," said Ward, who started Patina with her husband, Rick Haase, in 1993. "This was different. Our employees consist primarily of 20-to-30-year-old females who are very concerned regarding the threatening nature of these crimes. The game changed for us with this violence. And it seems like half the staff has seen these people, this guy and several accomplices. We felt like sitting ducks."

The economic loss to Patina is estimated at about $5,000. That's a fraction of the $10 million-plus in gross sales that Patina will generate this year. Anxiety has been the big expense.

Ward alleges that Rock, in his second visit to the Highland Park Patina store last December, grabbed several high-end Pendleton blankets and towels. When confronted by a clerk, a college student, he allegedly struck her in the face, and stoned the car of a customer who followed him for a couple of blocks. The young woman, a valued employee, left the ­company.

Ward and other staff members went to the Minneapolis and St. Paul police after each incident with information, photographs, license numbers and videos. Before the arrest on Tuesday, Ward and Haase expressed frustration with the seemingly slow pace of the investigation and that the two departments didn't appear to be working together.

Ward said police informed her that they knew the suspect. And they counseled staff not to approach him or any of the accompanying females. They would case stores, sometimes steal or leave and then return for the high-quality towels and blankets with American Indian designs that sell for $75 and $150 apiece.

"We were told … to call the police on the sales floor so that [the suspects] could hear the call," Ward said. "Some of our staff were too fearful or upset to do that. So they'd press a 'panic button' or run to the backroom to call. The police always arrived 15 minutes to an hour later."

The cops are stretched. Shoplifting can fall behind more urgent calls. Ward also put more male sales associates on the floor, and posted pictures of the suspected shoplifter taken from surveillance video in stores, as police recommended. Visual merchandiser Gwen Westberg took the Pendleton towel-and-blanket display off easy-to-reach shelves and hung them high and secured them.

Retailers routinely cope with shoplifting. Patina's staff often observe shoppers stuffing items in purses or baby carriages and ask them to pay or return the merchandise and ban them from the store. The big retailers, such as Target and Best Buy, employ uniform and plainclothes security agents.

Patina needed help stopping this theft ring.

Last Tuesday, the Patina crew's luck changed, just a day after more Pendleton merchandise was stolen from the Franklin Avenue store.

According to Patina staff: On Tuesday, a woman they recognized from earlier incidents tried unsuccessfully to remove towels from their new higher and secure perch at the 50th and Bryant Avenue S. store. She left. Other stores were alerted by phone.

A male they recognized from surveillance videos was spotted and turned away by staff at the Franklin store door. And workers at the Northeast store on Stinson Boulevard called 911 when the individual entered the store a short time later. A police officer arrested Rock outside the store, according to a police report.

Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments declined to comment last week, pending ongoing investigations.

"I can think of cases like this, and they drive you crazy," said retired Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan, a onetime beat cop. "These are chronic liveability-crime offenders. They know the cracks in the system and that the two cities don't always coordinate their efforts right away. And then it sounds like varied accomplices. And that makes it more complicated. It's a very tough thing for small businesses."

Dolan said most street criminals don't return to businesses where they are well known.

Patina boasts a popular and eclectic mix of merchandise that ranges from pottery to plastic planters, jewelry, books, cards, and more that's quirky and fun. Ward and Haase have built a nice business and employ a lot of long-term employees, some of whom started as customers.

And nobody has shoplifted a Patina store since Tuesday.

Neal St. Anthony • 612-673-7144