In a dismal pattern that has unfortunately become common in Democratic-controlled municipalities, consequence-free shoplifting is forcing another popular retail location to shut its doors.
In a statement, the national pharmacy chain CVS announced that “we’ve made the difficult decision to close our store” in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of northwest Washington, D.C., WTTG-TV reported.
In a sense, however, the store is already out of commission thanks to the large-scale theft of consumer goods by mobs of teens who have plundered the shop repeatedly, leaving shelves bare.
Making matters worse, the pilferage appears to be organized.
Thieves “were aware of when shipments were coming and targeted the store at those times,” WTTG reported.
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Some employes said the thieves were being paid by street vendors to steal merchandise for resale, according to WTTG.
A report about the CVS from WUSA-TV in Washington is below:
The store even stocking items months ago because of the rampant ransacking, according to DC News Now, a CW Network affiliate.
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The closure becomes effective on Feb. 29. The company is transferring active prescriptions to another store nearby.
One resident of the community told WJLA-TV that “the amount of theft and everything that is going on is really crazy. The crime rate has increased dramatically.”
Organized retail theft appears hardly restricted to this one pharmacy, however.
According to WRC-TV, in May “six CVS stores in D.C. were robbed in 10 days with thieves taking toiletries, detergent and other items.”
In typical corporate fashion, the three-paragraph CVS statement, as it was reported by WJLA, contains no reference to crime as a motivator for shuttering the Columbia Heights store.
Instead, it set forth factors such as “local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.”
The statement mentioned that workers at the store will be offered jobs at other CVS D.C. locations, which number about 50.
So, for now anyway, CVS maintains a significant presence in the crime-ridden national capital.
As an aside, common sense suggests that perhaps the Columbia Heights store isn’t the only CVS location in D.C. under siege by shoplifters.
Pandering politicians, lax laws, prosecutors funded by billionaire progressive George Soros who are more interested in so-called social justice than criminal justice, efforts to defund or demoralize police and the breakdown of the family have all contributed to the sad normalization of rampant crime in America’s big and medium-sized cities where the far left runs things — mainly into the ground.
