Struck by thieves again, upscale Bluffton store down 12 pairs of orange pants

Bluffton’s True Religion was hit Thursday with its fourth case of shoplifting in two months, this time by a group of women who allegedly took $5,000 worth of upscale clothing.

A manager called the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office about 8 p.m. to report that four women came into the Tanger Outlets 1 store and began stacking clothes near the front doors, according to a report on the incident. Asked if they needed any help, the women said, “No,” and kept making their piles before loading them into a large bag, the report said.

The manager called law enforcement and told the women that officers were on the way, the report said. The shoplifters didn’t stick around. They sped up their packing and then ran off with the merchandise, which reportedly was worth at least $5,000. True Religion was not done with its inventory on Friday but noted that it lost at least four women’s shirts and 19 pairs of men’s pants, including a dozen orange pairs.

While the manager did not see the license plate of the car the women left in, she did tell deputies it was a silver Hyundai parked in the rear of the shopping center. It turned right onto Bluffton Parkway, heading away from Hilton Head Island, the report said.

There have been several other thefts reported at True Religion in recent months:

On Nov. 7, a Columbia man was charged with misdemeanor shoplifting after he allegedly sprinted from the store with $3,000 worth of clothing.

On Nov. 17, two suspects entered the store and stuffed clothing into black bags before they ran in the direction of Bluffton Parkway — taking $10,000 worth of merchandise with them.

On Tuesday, two men ran from True Religion after they allegedly grabbed a stack of clothing worth $500 as a store employee approached them.

This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Struck by thieves again, upscale Bluffton store down 12 pairs of orange pants."