It wasn’t exactly a brilliant caper, but these daring “jewel” thieves walked out with the loot they were looking for and disappeared without a trace. Now police are asking the public for help finding them.
Two masked men stole $2,000 worth of JUUL vapes from a Kentucky Circle K store in one of the most brazen and bizarre robberies you’ll ever see. The thieves walked past the oddly unconcerned employee and helped themselves to the vapes without saying a word.
The employee stood behind the counter with them, making a phone call — perhaps to the police — as they loaded up with JUULs. She told them it was “against the rules” to wear a mask in the store, but as you might suspect, they weren’t too concerned about the rules.
“Obviously this was premeditated,” Lexington Police detective Mark Thomas told LEX18-TV. “They knew what they were going to steal.”
$2,000 is the retail value of 40 JUUL starter kits. It’s not a bad haul, but hardly seems worth risking prison time. Felony theft of more than $500 but less than $10,000 worth of property could get the JUUL thieves one to five years behind bars.
The thieves never threatened the employee or customers, and don’t appear to be armed. No one attempted to stop them or interfere. As far as robberies go, this one was very...relaxed.
Police suspect the thieves plan to sell the JUULs — probably a pretty good guess. The moral panic over teen vaping has made the JUUL a hot property among high school students.
“These things are getting more and more popular,” Det. Thomas told the TV station, “so this is not going to be hard for them to turn around, and people out there buying these things should, or have a reasonable knowledge, that these are stolen given the quantity these guys have.”
Of course, the thieves probably won’t show off their entire haul to potential buyers. The Lexington Police are asking anyone who has information to call their Crime Stoppers number at 859-253-2020.
Jim McDonald
Vaping for: 13 years
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Favorite flavors: RY4-style tobaccos, fruits
Expertise in: Political and legal challenges, tobacco control haters, moral panics
Jim McDonald
Smokers created vaping without help from the tobacco industry or anti-smoking crusaders, and I believe vapers have the right to continue innovating to help themselves. My goal is to provide clear, honest information about the challenges vaping faces from lawmakers, regulators, and brokers of disinformation. I’m a member of the CASAA board, but my opinions aren’t necessarily CASAA’s, and vice versa. You can find me on Twitter @whycherrywhy