LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Todd Parker is the general manager at the 7/11 store on East Tropicana Avenue and Spencer Street in east Las Vegas. He said it’s been hit by thieves twice in the past two months.
Parker shared surveillance video with Channel 13, showing three masked people walking into the store on May 20 during the graveyard shift there.
WATCH the surveillance video and hear from the general manager:
Multiple camera angles show them going behind a checkout counter where all the tobacco products are, then filling bags with as many cigarettes as they can. Each of them was wearing gloves.
“They don't come running in; they walk in like regular people," Parker said, recalling what he saw in the security footage. "They just make their way to behind the counter."
He has six full-time employees who work at the store, and his advice to all of them is not to engage with anyone who comes in with possibly bad or even dangerous intentions. Even, he said, if it means taking a huge financial hit after so many products get stolen.
“Somebody's wellbeing is more important than products,” he said.
Senior reporter Mary Kielar asked him if he’d ever consider stopping cigarette sales to avoid this issue in the future.
“If anything, we'd probably have to go to desperate measures and lock it up [the cigarettes] more tightly, put [them] in a full case,” Parker said, adding that he likely wouldn’t stop selling them altogether.
Parker also said he’d consider adding a security guard to deter this type of activity.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department would not do an interview on this story, but did say that out of the two incidents, one investigation is closed and the other is still open. Channel 13 did put in a public records request for a copy of both police reports.
“I just hope they catch them,” Parker said.
A source who is retired from the FBI with over 20 years of experience told Channel 13 incidents like this one are shocking, but they’re not surprising. They added that even if these suspects are caught, it likely won’t result in much more than a slap on the wrist.
Channel 13 will continue to follow this story and provide updates as they become available.
