TikTok A screenshot from the AutoZone robbery video
A viral TikTok video shows a shoplifter brazenly stealing merchandise from a Detroit, Michigan, AutoZone store.
On November 20, 2022, the TikTok page @madbilingual shared the video and wrote, “Call him ‘the morning thief’ terrorizing southwest of Detroit Michigan Autozone store. #autozone do something.” The video shows a man in a mask grabbing merchandise from shelves before walking out the door as other people watch. Detroit Police haven’t commented about the viral video and whether any arrests have been made.
In a similar video of an unrelated robbery, thieves made off with merchandise from an Apple store in Palo Alto, California, over Black Friday.
Here’s what you need to know:
Other Sites Have Also Shared the Detroit AutoZone Video, Helping It Go Viral
The Instagram page @ppv_tahoe also shared the video of an AutoZone store in Detroit, Michigan. “Thief inside Autozone in Southwest Detroit Michigan,” the page wrote with that unrelated video. “He returns on a regular basis and does it over again. The employee says he is tired of it.”
People expressed frustration on the comment thread of the original TikTok video. Here are some of those comments:
“If this keeps up, there will be no retail at all.”
“All for jumper cables and gloves?”
“Sad thing is, very few police departments even acknowledge these events.”
“They’ll close locations like this unfortunately.”
“I’m curious, as soon as he walks in, why not just call the cops?”
“We have the same problem at Walgreens.”
“People need to step up and help.”
“I don’t think I could stand by and watch this.”
“Why doesn’t somebody step up and help out.”
A Similar California Video Showed Another Brazen Heist
According to Palo Alto Online, the thieves in the Palo Alto, California, robbery of an Apple Store made away with $35,000 from the downtown store on November 25, 2022, during Black Friday shopping. The robbery occurred at 4:17 p.m., the site reported, and iPhones and laptops were stolen. The site reported that one of the robbers made a threat of violence.
The video went viral as concerns about smash-and-grab robberies have escalated in California and elsewhere.
The video shows the thieves, with masks over their faces, going through the Apple store and shoving merchandise into bags. “Should we stop them?” one person asks in the video, but it doesn’t appear that anyone tries to do so.
The Instagram page @ppv_tahoe shared the video and wrote, “Thieves hit Apple store in Palo Alto on Black Friday. Two people walked into the Apple store on University Ave on Black Friday and began stealing i-pads & phones. All of this occurred as dozens of people watched.”
In a past incident, Detroit’s FBI office tracked down a robbery who was caught in a series of TikTok videos, according to Newsweek.
That man was accused of robbing 7-Eleven stores, a Marathon gas station, and an Old West Tobacco, Newsweek reported. In that case, though, it was the suspect who was accused of filming the TikTok videos.
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