Four women suspected in theft of $30,000 worth of clothes from Santa Rosa Lululemon store

Four women stole about $30,000 worth of clothing from the Lululemon store in Montgomery Village on Tuesday, then sped away, eluding authorities nearly a year after a similar incident at the same store.

Witnesses reported that four women in their early to mid-20s entered the store with bags and stole large amounts of workout clothing Tuesday afternoon, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Dave Marconi said in an email Wednesday. Lululemon employees told police that the loot the women took was worth about $30,000.

When officers responded at 2:38 p.m, they spotted the suspect vehicle described by witnesses leaving the area, driving recklessly. The suspects passed other vehicles on road shoulders and drove faster than ?100 mph. Officials heard unconfirmed reports the suspects had struck another vehicle on Highway 12. Out of concern for public safety, city police officers did not pursue the vehicle at a high speed.

Later, the suspect vehicle was spotted on Highway 101 south of Santa Rosa by the California Highway Patrol. CHP officers pursued the vehicle, then stopped out of concern for the safety of citizens in the area. Santa Rosa police didn’t provide a description of the suspect vehicle on Wednesday evening.

This theft comes nearly a year to the day after four women stole as much as $19,000 in workout clothing from the same Lululemon store Sept. 19, 2018. Those suspects also were described to be in their early 20s. Witnesses then saw the suspects drive off in an older model black Mercedes with no front license plate.

Marconi said in his email that it isn’t known at this time if the two crimes are connected. He said that two suspects were arrested in connection with the 2018 theft, but didn’t provide further details.

You can reach Staff Writer Chantelle Lee at 707-521-5337 or chantelle.lee@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ChantelleHLee.