Identity released of alleged shoplifter killed in Colorado Springs [Update]
In our LP Insider yesterday (Thursday), we brought you a story about a Colorado Springs Police Officer who shot, and fatally wounded a suspected shoplifter. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office released the identity of the man, along with additional information about this tragic event. The suspect, Steven James Young, was running from police when he brandished what police thought was a gun at officers, according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. At that point, the officer got out his weapon and fired. It was later discovered that the “firearm” was a Crosman Vigilante pellet pistol, which is almost an exact replica of a firearm. Young was wanted on four felony warrants including a Fugitive from Justice warrant from the Colorado Department of Corrections, Aggravated Motor Vehicle Theft, and multiple counts of Vehicular Eluding. A Jeep Cherokee stolen from CSPD’s jurisdiction on June 26, 2017, was found in the East Platte Walmart parking lot immediately after the shooting. It was positively identified as being driven by Young in three previous police pursuits.. [Source: NewsChannel13]
Two suspects rob store, pepper spray LP
Police Tuesday sought the public’s help in identifying two suspects who stole multiple sets of Beats headphones from a Van Nuys, California, store, with one of them blasting a security officer with pepper spray, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. A man and a woman walked what police identified only as “a major retail store,” and the man removed the headphones from a display rack and placed them in a shopping bag. “The female suspect acted as the lookout while the male removed the items and concealed them inside the bag,” according to a police statement. A loss prevention associate watching surveillance video saw what the two were doing, police said. As the suspects headed for the exit, another LP associate attempted to stop them, but the man pepper sprayed the officer and the two escaped.
Both suspects were described as Hispanic and between 23 and 26 years old. The man is 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs about 140 to 150 pounds and has something tattooed on his left inner elbow area. He was wearing a black baseball cap, white T-shirt and black shorts. The woman is 5 feet 2 to 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs about 130 to 150 pounds and was wearing a red shirt and tan pants. The two, accompanied by a young girl, were recorded on surveillance video the day before at a McDonalds in San Fernando. Images from the restaurant were distributed by police, who ask that anyone with information about the suspects call the Van Nuys Station at 818-374-0081. After hours and weekend calls should be directed to 877-LAPD-24-7. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling 800-222-TIPS. [Source: Los Angeles Daily News]
Two arrested in connection with prepaid card fraud scheme
Two of four suspects detectives say were involved in a scheme to fraudulently purchase $28,000 in prepaid credit cards have been arrested. Uresi Abdulmalik and Michael Battle, both of Atlanta, Georgia were charged with racketeering, money laundering, bank fraud, organized scheme to defraud and grand theft for their role in the plan. Battle was arrested in Richmond County, Georgia, and has refused to cooperate with investigators. Abdulmalik and Battle, according to court records, arranged in January to buy the prepaid cards from a Tallahassee Walmart by reaching out through a mutual friend of a Money Center cashier, Zana Gavin.
Court records indicate Leon County Sheriff’s Office detectives have probable cause to arrest Gavin and the go between, Derrick Toombs. It is unclear if they’ve been taken into custody, but Toombs declined to be interviewed by LCSO investigators. Gavin told investigators she was promised she would be paid as much as $3,000 for her assistance in the scheme. Abdulmalik and Battle asked to purchase 56 $500 gift cards at the West Tennessee Street Walmart. Gavin provided the cards and navigated around the store’s security system. No money, either in the form of cash or debit card, changed hands during the transaction, according to LCSO. The men then took the cards to several Publix stores in Tallahassee and purchased money orders to launder the stolen funds, according to court records. [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]
Target clerk charged with theft of cellphones
A Stamford, Connecticut, Target department store clerk has been accused of stealing several cellphones worth more than $3,400. Sergeant Michael Scatamacchia said police were contacted by loss prevention associates about a clerk who was seen stealing the phones. Scatamacchia said the LP associates reported seeing Miller Leveille ringing up a $957 Apple iPhone and voiding the sale. He was then seen handing the phone to a woman who left the store without paying. About a week later, Leveille was seen taking four phones from a storage locker and placing them into a black bag, according to reports. He then retrieved the bag 15 minutes later and left the store without paying for the phones, Leveille was seen the next day twice ringing up cellphones at his register without a customer near his checkout. Loss prevention reported Leveille was responsible for stealing $3,406 worth of cellular devices, Scatamacchia said. Leveille was charged this week with third-degree larceny. [Source: Stamford Advocate]
Walmart beats on earnings, same-store sales climb as online purchases grow 60%
Walmart on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings and sales that topped Street expectations, as the big-box retailer made further gains in its online business. Fresh digital initiatives and a growing assortment of products on Walmart.com aided the retailer in boosting online transactions by 60 percent, the company said. Last quarter, e-commerce sales climbed 63 percent, compared with 29 percent growth in the prior quarter. Although many retailers are struggling to draw shoppers in, Walmart posted same-store sales growth at its US locations for the 12th-consecutive quarter, fueled by traffic growth of 1.3 percent, the company said. Despite the news, shares of Walmart were down more than 2.5 percent during pre-market trading.
Here’s what Walmart reported compared to what Wall Street was expecting, based on a Thomson Reuters survey of analysts: Earnings of $1.08 a share, adjusted, compared with a forecast profit of $1.07 per share; Revenue was $123.36 billion versus an estimate of $122.84 billion; Same-store sales for US stores, excluding fuel, climbed 1.7 percent, matching expectations. “This isn’t a blow-away report … it’s a solid report,” Gordon Haskett analyst Chuck Grom told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Walmart’s stock has been a “big outperformer” of late, Grom added, which can lead to a temporary sell-off, “even if the print is perfect.”
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said it earned 96 cents per share during the period. Excluding one-time charges, the company earned $1.08 a share. Walmart’s total sales climbed 2.1 percent from a year ago, to $123.36 billion. This consisted of 3.3 percent sales growth at Walmart US stores, a 1 percent decline in revenues for Walmart’s international business and 2.3 percent growth across Sam’s Club. Walmart’s US comparable sales — a metric closely watched by the Street for retailers — increased 1.8 percent, including fuel. Excluding gasoline sales, comps in the US were up 1.7 percent, which consisted of growth of 1.2 percent at Sam’s Club, and an increase of 1.8 percent at Walmart stores. Retail rival Target on Wednesday reported better-than-expected digital sales growth, as it saw more shoppers returning to its stores and online for “quick trips” — ringing up smaller purchases, but more frequently. As of Wednesday’s market close, shares of Walmart have climbed about 11 percent over the past 12 months. This far outpaces the S&P 500 Retail ETF’s (XRT) declines of about 15 percent over the period. [Source: CNBC]
Global cybersecurity spending to grow 7 percent to $86.4B in 2017
Analyst Gartner is projecting that worldwide spending on IT security products and services will grow seven per cent, year over year, to reach a total of $86.4 billion in 2017, suggesting opportunities for security startups to tap into rising demand for specialist b2b services. Within the infrastructure protection segment, the analyst is forecasting fast growth in the security testing market, though it notes this is coming from a small base. Factors that Gartner points to as driving spending here include continued data breaches and growing demand for app security testing. Another area it expects to contribute towards growth in the segment through 2021 is spending on emerging application security testing tools, particularly interactive application security testing. The fastest growing segment will be security services, according to the analyst — especially IT outsourcing, consulting and implementation services.
By contrast it expects hardware support services to see growth slowing due to the adoption of technologies such as virtual appliances, public cloud and SaaS editions of security solutions — which it notes will reduce the need for attached hardware support overall. Another factor it flags up as creating renewed interest in IT security spending — and data loss prevention buying decisions specifically — is the European Union’s incoming General Data Protection Regulation, which is due to come into force in May 2018. Despite some opportunities for new security-related technologies and services to cater to an expanding market, Gartner’s argues organizations should be doubling down on “basic security and risk related hygiene elements” — citing the likes of threat centric vulnerability management; centralized log management; internal network segmentation; backups and system hardening as some of those key and core security elements which he says are now “more important than ever.” [Source: TechCrunch]
The post Breaking News in the Industry: August 18, 2017 appeared first on LPM.