Shoplifters hit Fremont boutique, take hundreds of dollars' worth of clothing

SEATTLE -- Police are hoping the public can help them identify two shoplifters who took several hundred dollars' worth of clothing from a boutique in Fremont.

Store clerk Fabienne Vigil didn’t think anything when two women walked into Bliss, just before closing Saturday night.

“I was not in the suspicious mindset, I wasn’t thinking thieves,” she says.

She watched as one took armfuls of clothes from a back wall.

“I went up to her and said, do you want a fitting room? And she said, 'I’m good, I’m just trying to find some outfits.'”

So Vigil went back to other tasks. While she was distracted at the register, the two women grabbed several more items from a rack, then ran out of the store and into a waiting vehicle.

Store manager Lauren Julio says when she watched the surveillance video, it was obvious the women were experienced shoplifters.

“It makes me really sad that people are willing to hurt small businesses, when they know we can’t afford it as much as like a retail store can.”

Julio estimates they lost several hundred dollars' worth of clothing. She thinks the thieves will probably try to sell it.

“I’m assuming. Because unless you’re giving to multiple members of your family, why would you need different sizes of the same thing?”

She’s hoping someone will recognize the women and turn them into police, so they can’t target other small businesses.

Vigil says the experience has made her more suspicious of the people coming into the store.

“You want to trust everyone, but you really can’t.”

Witnesses say the women got away in a Cadillac, but they weren’t able to get a plate number. If you recognize the suspects or have any information that could help police, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.