Two men were arrested and charged with felony receiving stolen property following a Tuesday morning break-in at a Frontenac luxury resale boutique where more than $35,000 worth of designer merchandise was stolen, according to local authorities.
The Frontenac Police Department stated in a criminal complaint that two hooded suspects forced their way into YINOVE LUXE using a bar to damage the front door around 2:20 a.
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m. Tuesday.
Court documents filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court show that Jerrail West faces multiple counts of felony receiving stolen property, while Lamont Walker was also taken into custody after attempting to sell the stolen items.
West is currently being held in the St. Louis County Justice Center on a $75,000 bond, as reported by FOX 2.
Investigators noted that the stolen goods included 12 luxury items, such as Goyard, Celine, and Chanel bags, with an estimated total value of $35,301.
"I look at the phone, from the camera, I see two people break in from the front door and use a bag and took a bunch of bags from there and some bags from that wall, and ran out like within 20 seconds," said Shuwen Zou, owner of YINOVE LUXE.
Zou immediately contacted the police and arrived at the storefront to assist investigators, noting that this is the first break-in since the business opened last year.
"They know what they want.
They are very straightforward, grab a few Goyard bags from this side and a Celine bag and some Chanel bags," said Zou.
The store owner explained that while the front door and frame suffered significant damage, he plans to repair the property and reopen within two weeks.
"The situation is definitely frustrating because we need to go through insurance claim, and rebuild the store, do repair, and also recover our stocks," said Zou.
Following the incident, several local business owners contacted Zou to offer support and help monitor the market for the stolen designer goods.
"I’m really touched that I received many, many DMs and phone calls from local business and they asked me just, you know, let them know what had been stolen and they will keep an eye on it," said Zou.
The investigation revealed that one of the stolen items, a Louis Vuitton men's crossbody bag valued at $1,885, was brought to multiple resale shops on the day of the burglary.
"It’s amazing how the police department and local community work together to make them get caught this fast," said Zou.
Zou mentioned that he is currently collaborating with his insurance provider to evaluate additional security measures for his establishment.
"I think anything can happen to a small business, anything can happen for a business. We just stay positive when something happens, try to fix it," said Zou.
Zou expressed a sense of relief regarding the arrests while confirming that only one of the 12 stolen items has been recovered so far.
"Once I got there, I was a little sad because I just was hoping that it was no major," said Zou.
The police report detailed that the suspects used trash bags to carry the merchandise out of the store during the 20-second heist.
"But when I arrived there, the police are trying to already start their investigation," said Zou.
According to the criminal complaint, West first attempted to sell the Louis Vuitton bag to a resale shop owner who refused the transaction due to previous suspicious sales.
"They’ve been trying and successfully breaking into other businesses in St. Louis on multiple occasions and now," said Zou.
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Zou noted that the suspects are now facing legal consequences for their actions across the county.
"I feel relief because they are in the right place right now," said Zou.
Following the first failed attempt, West and Walker visited a Clothes Mentor location in South County, where general manager Hannah Benz recognized the suspect and alerted the authorities.
"Whenever he came back, I knew instantly that it was stolen from somewhere else, and I wanted to make sure it got back to its rightful home because we just never want to partake in the buying of stolen goods or profiting off anyone else’s loss," said Hannah Benz, general manager at Clothes Mentor St. Louis.
Benz took possession of the luxury bag under the pretense of verifying its authenticity before contacting the St. Louis County Police Department.
"The community that we’ve built is amazing. Huge shout-out to the girls over at the Vault in Brentwood, Reset in Maplewood.
Such amazing help and information they were able to give me," said Benz.
Benz credited regional small business cooperation for providing crucial information that helped identify the individuals involved.
"Without that community and that sense of just wanting to help each other, I definitely don’t think any of us would be able to do it.
I definitely don’t think we see each other as competitors, but more of a team and everything’s better when we always work as a team," said Benz.
According to Benz, the retail industry has seen a notable increase in similar high-end property crimes over the last five years.
"I will say a lot of them are very similar in M. O.
So I think, you know, as a whole and as an industry, we’re hoping that this can be like the start to putting all that to an end and us just all feeling safe again," said Benz.
Benz instructed the suspects to return the following morning before noon to receive their cash payout, allowing police officers to set up an ambush inside and outside the store.
"I personally handled one of them on multiple occasions," said Benz.
Benz stated that notes had been entered into their corporate system previously regarding the suspects' pattern of moving stolen goods between different retail locations.
"I think they would steal stuff from one store and bring it to another, so after my team were alerted to that, I definitely had an eye on it.
So there were some notes in our system, and I was able to again work at the amazing attack of the St. Louis County Police Department and kind of get to the bottom of it," said Benz.
When Walker and West returned at the appointed time, waiting police officers quietly apprehended both individuals alongside another occupant in their vehicle.
"Told him the next day that I just needed to make an offer, but typically all of our cash things can only get paid out before noon," said Benz.
The recovered Louis Vuitton bag has since been returned to YINOVE LUXE, while Frontenac police indicated that the broader investigation remains ongoing.
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"So he showed up then and we had some lovely police officers in the back room, some lovely police officers outside, and were able to grab whoever was in the car, whoever was inside and make it very quiet, so it was awesome," said Benz.
