KANSAS CITY, MO (KSHB) — Missouri police are looking for a woman who used her kids to help her steal hundreds of dollars in clothes Thursday.
The woman stole $500 in dresses from a boutique, using a young child to distract the clerk while she shoved the clothing into her purse.
“They kind of made one of the kids hide and come up in front of her while she was trying to steal a dress,” said eyewitness Brooke Shrader. “She kept asking me questions also to kind of distract.”
Police say it’s not uncommon for parents to have their kids with them while they shoplift, but it’s unusual for a child to actually help steal.
In Missouri, shoplifters can be charged with misconduct of a minor if they use a child to commit crimes.
“I can’t wrap my brain around bringing your children to committee a crime,” store owner Kris Koenig says. “On this occasion the money isn’t necessarily what I am worried about. I’m more worried about these kids and what kind of household are they being brought up in where the role models are taking them to commit crimes with them.”