One member of a group of serial perfume thieves made an initial court appearance last week.

Mercedes D. Hardwick, 25, of Milwaukee was charged with aiding and abetting theft at Ulta in Woodbury.

According to the complaint:

On Feb. 3, four suspects entered the Tamarack Village store, each grabbing a reusable shopping bag and filling it with high-end perfume. One hundred four bottles of perfume – worth an estimated $7,341 – were stolen in two minutes.

Then, the group sprinted out the front door of Ulta, into a waiting white Toyota Prius.

Hardwick, Selwyn Gerard Smith, Travis Antoine Arrington and Menique Jeanelle Hardy were involved in nine incidents at Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa stores, which suffered a total loss of $27,224.

Give Facebook the assist in the apprehension of the suspects.



IDENTIFYING SUSPECTS

Surveillance photos from Woodbury matched past booking photos and Facebook photos of Smith, 25, and Arrington, 22, who wore a hat during the incident. Arrington’s Facebook photos showed him wearing an identical hat.

Arrington also attempted to sell perfume and cologne on his Facebook page on Feb. 17.

And Arrington and Smith were pictured together on Arrington’s Facebook page.

Ulta employees identified Hardwick and Hardy, 23. Hardwick had been arrested after a similar incident in Milwaukee, while Hardy was arrested after a theft in Madison, Wis. Surveillance photos from Woodbury matched booking photos and the suspects’ photos on Facebook.

Hardwick and Hardy are Facebook friends with a person who owns a white Toyota Prius, also pictured on Facebook.

NEXT STEPS

Smith, Arrington, Hardwick and Hardy are wanted for aiding and abetting each other.

They appeared to have come to Minnesota for the purpose of committing retail theft, and several of the reported incidents involving these defendants occurred just before or just after the incident in Woodbury.

None of the defendants are Minnesota residents, and all of them have extensive criminal histories.

Warrants are out for their arrests.

Hardwick out on bail and is due back in court next month.

