Westside cracks down on shoplifting

Following an arrest on Tuesday, the management at Westside Market said they intend to change their policy toward student shoplifters.

“It’s not a joke anymore. We’ve let students get away with warnings for the past four years,” Nick Glenis, a store manager, said.

Glenis noted that this has been a particularly active year for student shoplifters attempting to steal food from Westside, despite the fact that at least 30 cameras are mounted in the store above the cash registers.

“We’ve probably arrested about 12 students ... [this year] alone,” he said.

On Tuesday night a female student was arrested after she was seen exiting the store with roughly $60 worth of groceries she had not paid for. After confronting the student, who a cashier said was a repeat offender, the manager on duty brought her back inside and called the New York Police Department. The student had put groceries directly into her bag.

Glenis, who was not present during the arrest, said the student may have been an upperclassman, around 20 or 21 years old.

Last semester the management posted signs around the store, stating that patrons could not bring reusable, cloth grocery bags into the store, due to concerns about shoplifting.