Thieves Steal Employee's Phone, Attempt To Run Her Over: Police

FRANKFORT, IL — After a retail theft was thwarted, thieves stole a worker's phone, as well as items from the store, according to Frankfort Police. An officer was called to Walgreens, 9554 W. Lincoln Highway, at 11:56 a.m. Oct. 12 about a theft in progress, Frankfort Police told Patch.

The officer met with an employee, who told police a man had grabbed her arm, took a bag of products he was trying to return, stole the employee's phone and pushed her down before fleeing the store. A woman driving a black SUV was also involved in the incident, police said.

The woman attempted to run over the employee when she followed the man out of the store, according to police. The vehicle then fled north through the parking lot.

Police said the employee knew the offenders were attempting to use a "return scam." The two selected two of the same items from the shelf, and one item is put into the cart, and the other identical item is placed into a plastic shopping bag. The items in the cart are paid for by one person, and then the other person uses the paid receipt to return the stolen items.

Frankfort Police said the incident is under investigation.