Getaway driver in Southern California bails on partner mid-heist, video shows

A retail theft suspect in San Bernardino County who nicked nearly $2,000 in merchandise from a store was arrested after his getaway driver spotted police and bailed on him in the parking lot.

The Sept. 23 incident unfolded at Nike store in the Colonies, located at 1931 N. Campus Avenue in Upland, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by the Upland Police Department.  

Store surveillance footage, released by police, shows the suspect casually walking through the store, grabbing boxes of shoes, handfuls of jeans and shirts and placing them into a cart.  

A short time later, store cameras captured the thief loading all the stolen merchandise into a black trash bag moments before leaving through an emergency exit.  

Once outside, the man is seen running with the bag toward a white four-door sedan on the street just out of the parking lot with the back driver side door open for the suspect to jump into.  

The driver, however, never fully came to a stop and sped off when they spotted a police cruiser approaching the suspect in the parking lot.  

At that point, the thief turns and dumps the trash bag and attempts to run away, but after a short foot pursuit through the parking lot, the man surrendered to officers.  

The suspect, who was on parole for being a felon in possession of a firearm, was arrested and booked for grand theft, organized retail theft, conspiracy and placed on a parole hold, according to the social media post.  

“The suspect vehicle was able to avoid capture (for the time being), however, all $1,779.79 [worth] of merchandise was recovered,” police said.