Jean Lugo Romero San Francisco Walgreens repeat bike thief sentenced to 16 months prison time and one year probation in response to rampant drug store stealing.
A repeat drug store thief who went viral last year following video footage of him stealing from a Walgreens in San Francisco with a large cache of goods was sentenced Monday to 16 months in prison. The man’s impending jail sentence comes as rebuke for rampant drug store crime which often saw repeat offenders being released back to the public with a misdemeanor record.
Jean Lugo Romero pleaded guilty to felony grand theft, misdemeanor petty theft and received a year of probation in addition to the jail term, San Francisco prosecutors stated.
He was also ordered to stay away from two Walgreens employees, two Walgreens stores and a CVS store.
‘Whether the work of organized retail theft rings or of individual suspects, the burglaries impacting our local businesses will not be tolerated,’ San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said in a released statement.
Footage of the June 2021 incident shows Romero while on a bike shoveling items into a bag before proceeding to ride by a security guard and another person filming him in an aisle.
Nearly ten months after I shot this video, Jean Lugo Romero pled guilty to felony grand theft and misdemeanor petty theft and was sentenced to 16 months prison and one year probation. pic.twitter.com/QY46S4tX0p
— Lyanne Melendez (@LyanneMelendez) April 4, 2022
Responding to rampant drug store thievery
Investigators linked Romero to other retail store thefts, including one in a CVS in which he allegedly cleared the shelves of nearly $1,000 worth of cosmetics and put the items in a duffel bag according to KPIX.
The Walgreens incident came as retail crime had dramatically increased across a myriad of U.S cities. Nevertheless, San Francisco retained some of the most brazen acts of thievery.
Also announced Monday were guilty verdicts against Ahmad Shabazz for a series of petty thefts at three separate Walgreens stores. A jury found him guilty of multiple counts.
He is scheduled to be sentenced April 15. The shoplifting sprees prompted Walgreens to close multiple stores in San Francisco.
