ST. PETERS, Mo. – A wave of retail thefts is costing local businesses thousands and putting public safety at risk.

One recent example is video from March 22 that the St. Peters Police Department wants you to see. Two men inside Kohl’s grab armfuls of clothing. You’ll notice a unique hand tattoo on one man wearing glasses and wavy hair under the hood of the other suspect.

“They ended up stealing about $1,500 worth of clothing,” Sgt. Melissa Doss, St. Peters Police Department, said. “They just stuff bags full of men’s clothing.”

Outside video shows their getaway car, with someone you cannot see driving a white newer model Dodge Durango.

“It could lead to a violent encounter, and we don’t want that in our area,” Doss said.

The National Retail Federation reports a 93% increase in retail theft since 2019 – with losses for a single St. Louis store exceeding $30,000 in less than a year.

“For some small businesses this is sink or swim,” Jim Whyte, Central West End Security Initiative, said. His group is tracking a wave of thefts from Lululemon – including one that happened the day we interviewed him.

Two cases struck within three days recently; young women grabbing as much as they can and leaving. One case involved a suspect throwing the alleged stolen clothing into the getaway car’s back broken out window.

“They think it’s a joke until they’re sitting in circuit court with felony charges,” Whyte said.

Stealing more than $750 in Missouri is a felony, a threshold surpassed repeatedly recently at Lululemon. In a statement to FOX 2, the athleisure wear company said, “Lululemon is honored to be in St. Louis, where we’ve built a strong community of guests, ambassadors, and team members. The safety and well-being of that community is a top priority for us. We take retail crime very seriously, using advanced technologies and investigatory techniques to help address these incidents. Our commitment to St. Louis is to be an active and responsive community partner. We actively work alongside local law enforcement and our retail peers to build cases that lead to arrests and prosecutions.”

Police in St. Louis City have issued multiple wanted statements on Lululemon cases, like the five people police say stole $3,200 in clothing last month.

Police and prosecutors announced several others were charged last week for Lululemon thefts. Amaia Hamilton, Heaven Brooks, Dorothy Keys, and Evan Pitts were all charged on May 1 and May 2.

“We’re just scratching the surface here and perhaps creating a regional response to this,” Whyte said.

Whyte believes they need to up the response, as thieves have grown so brazen they’re selling items online with security tags.

“She just took the bag,” Mark Coulter, Christopher’s in Kirkwood, said, describing someone walk right up to his surveillance camera to steal. “We account for it in our accounting, that we would love to not have to, but it’s part of life.”