CVS store manager killed on the job by shoplifter as epidemic grows increasingly deadly

Published

2 years ago

September 20, 2023

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A CVS store manager was killed on the job by a man suspected of shoplifting, police say — the latest example of a US retail theft epidemic that is becoming increasingly deadly.

Michael Jacobs, 49 — an operations manager at CVS Pharmacy in Mesa, Ariz., where he had worked for the past 20-plus years — was shot and killed allegedly by Jared Sevey in the evening hours of Sept. 7, according to KKTV 11 News.

Sevey, 39, was reportedly inside the Arizona CVS location earlier that day, arguing with Jacobs about shoplifting, KKTV reported. After the conflict, Sevey went home to get a gun.

Sevey admitted to police that he shot Jacobs because he was “tired of being bullied,” and “this was the last straw,” according to the news outlet.

The Post has sought comment from CVS, which has already resorted to installing built-in locks on freezer doors and putting padlocks around necessities like deodorant and toothbrushes at its locations in major US cities.

Jacobs left behind two children and his wife of 23 years, Stacy. Jacobs’ family has started a GoFundMe page, saying that “CVS has not even reached out to us to discuss medical expenses along with funeral expenses.” The GoFundMe has already collected over 200 donations totaling $15,402.

It’s the latest incident in a lethal trend. In April, a 26-year-old Home Depot employee was fatally shot after confronting a woman attempting to steal from the home improvement retailer’s Pleasanton store, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to KKTV.

Just days earlier, a pregnant shoplifter at a Walgreens in Nashville was shot by a staffer following a confrontation over stolen merchandise that resulted in an exchange of Mace and bullets. The wounded mother-to-be was rushed to the hospital, where doctors performed an emergency C-section, saving the baby and 24-year-old mother’s life.

The Walgreens worker was later charged by the Davidson County District Attorneys Office with aggravated assault, but a grand jury declined to indict him earlier this week. The new mother, meanwhile, was indicted for theft and assault.

Representatives for Home Depot and Walgreens didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Stories of seemingly consequence-free shoplifting are everywhere: There’s an epidemic of drugstore thefts in New York, and a landmark grocery store in Baltimore shut its doors after nearly 25 years after a community desperate for fresh food resorted to simply stealing it.

Experts have blamed the surge on lax policies — including the passage of Prop 47 in California, which reduced theft from a potential felony to a misdemeanor — as well as calls to defund the police in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, which resulted in a mass exodus of cops nationwide.

In New York City, dubbed a “shoplifter’s paradise” by some fed-up local politicians, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has faced blowback over his not requesting bail for some repeat shoplifting suspects. Bragg also has refused to bust thieves unless they pilfer items exceeding $1,000 in value, which is when theft becomes a felony.

A furor erupted in July after CVS worker Scotty Enoe, 46, fatally knifed Charles Brito after the 50-year-old serial thief punched him. Can Alvin Bragg maybe help with that?” fumed City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island). “He just chooses not to prosecute and we end up with vigilante justice.”

With no nationwide policy on how to deal with shoplifting, many employers have encouraged staffers to do nothing at all in an effort to keep them out of harm’s way.

Lululemon became notorious for its hands-off policy after the athletic gear company axed two employees who called the police while three masked men robbed a Georgia outpost.

The company cited its zero-tolerance policy for intervening in a robbery as a reason for firing the workers, whom Lululemon refers to as “educators.”

A Walmart in Atlanta, meanwhile, will be installing a police workspace inside the store when it opens in May. The grocery store and pharmacy previously closed after it was set on fire by suspected arsonists.

The shoplifting epidemic cost retailers nearly $100 billion in 2021, and the number of shoplifting complaints surged to more than 63,000 last year — a 45% jump over the roughly 45,000 reported in 2021 and a nearly 275% jump compared to the mid-2000s, police statistics show.

Now, Bragg in New York is reportedly working to snuff out shoplifting by going after repeat offenders. Part of his plan includes focused deterrence, meaning pre-trial detention will be requested for accused thieves who have prior felony convictions, multiple open cases and a history of skipping out on court dates.

New York also has implemented an initiative dubbed the Merchants Business Improvement Program, which allows business owners to get restraining orders against suspects who repeatedly come into their stores and steal or harass workers, officials said last month.

World

At least 100 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza – ‘complete families wiped out’ says health ministry

Published

1 hour ago

May 18, 2025

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At least 100 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza - 'complete families wiped out' says health ministry

At least 100 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza overnight and into Sunday, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Local medics also report that women and children were among the dead – as Israel launches an escalation of its war in Gaza to ramp up pressure on Hamas.

“Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by Israeli bombardment,” Khalil Al-Deqran, Gaza health ministry spokesperson, told the Reuters news agency.

Nasser hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis, said it received the bodies of 20 people killed in strikes that hit houses and tents in the Muwasi area. Hamas described that as a “new brutal crime”.

In central Gaza, at least 10 people were killed in two separate strikes, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the town of Deir al Balah.

Meanwhile, first responders from the health ministry and the civil defence reported at least 36 people were killed in multiple strikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the latest strikes.

Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March. It is attempting to pressurise Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages and has approved plans that could involve seizing the whole of Gaza and controlling aid.

It comes as peace talks between Israel and Hamas take place in Qatar this weekend, although sources told Reuters there had been no breakthrough.

Sky News Arabia reported that Hamas had proposed freeing about half its Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A Palestinian official close to the talks said: “Hamas is flexible about the number of hostages it can free, but the problem has always been over Israel’s commitment to end the war.”

Earlier on Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry issued a statement accusing Israel of “intensifying its systematic campaign to target hospitals”.

“After putting the European Gaza Hospital out of service a few days ago, the Israeli occupation has intensified its targeting and siege of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip since dawn today,” it added.

Israel has previously denied deliberately targeting civilians and accused Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes.

This week, Israel said it had bombed the European Hospital because it was home to an underground Hamas base, but Sky News analysis has cast doubt on its evidence.

Separately, the Israeli military said on Sunday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israel.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they had targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with two ballistic missiles.

The Houthis have fired at Israel because of the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel has carried out airstrikes in response, including one on 6 May that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa and killed several people.

The conflict began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others.

Israel’s military response has seen the deaths of more than 53,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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Politics

Retired artist loses $2M in crypto to Coinbase impersonator

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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Retired artist loses M in crypto to Coinbase impersonator

Retired artist Ed Suman lost over $2 million in cryptocurrency earlier this year after falling victim to a scam involving someone posing as a Coinbase support representative.

Suman, 67, spent nearly two decades as a fabricator in the art world, helping build high-profile works such as Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog sculptures, according to a May 17 report by Bloomberg.

After retiring, he turned to cryptocurrency investing, eventually accumulating 17.5 Bitcoin (BTC) and 225 Ether (ETH) — a portfolio that comprised most of his retirement savings.

He stored the funds in a Trezor Model One, a hardware wallet commonly used by crypto holders to avoid the risks of exchange hacks. But in March, Suman received a text message appearing to be from Coinbase, warning him of unauthorized account access.

After responding, he got a phone call from a man identifying himself as a Coinbase security staffer named Brett Miller. The caller appeared knowledgeable, correctly stating that Suman’s funds were stored in a hardware wallet.

He then convinced Suman that his wallet could still be vulnerable and walked him through a “security procedure” that involved entering his seed phrase into a website mimicking Coinbase’s interface.

Nine days later, a second caller claiming to be from Coinbase repeated the process. By the end of that call, all of Suman’s crypto holdings were gone.

Retired artist loses $2M in crypto to Coinbase impersonator — *Crypto scammers impersonate Coinbase support. Source:* *NanoBaiter*

Coinbase suffers major data breach

The scam followed a data breach at Coinbase disclosed this week, in which attackers bribed customer support staff in India to access sensitive user information.

Stolen data included customer names, account balances, and transaction histories. Coinbase confirmed the breach impacted roughly 1% of its monthly transacting users.

Among those affected was venture capitalist Roelof Botha, managing partner at Sequoia Capital. There is no indication that his funds were accessed, and Botha declined to comment.

Coinbase’s chief security officer, Philip Martin, reportedly said the contracted customer service agents at the center of the controversy were based in India and had been fired following the breach.

The exchange has also said it plans to pay between $180 million and $400 million in remediation and reimbursement to affected users.

Magazine: Arthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins’ powerful rally’ looms: Hodler’s Digest, May 11 – 17

Sports

Stars win, oust Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets

Published

5 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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Stars win, oust Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets

ESPN News Services

May 17, 2025, 11:43 PM ET

DALLAS — Thomas Harley scored on a power play 1:33 into overtime and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final for the third season in a row, beating the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night.

Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets hours after the unexpected death of his father, but also had a tripping penalty with 14.8 seconds left in regulation that set up Dallas to start overtime with a man advantage.

Sam Steel, who had scored earlier for Dallas, was on a break when Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line. The Stars called a timeout, but missed a shot and had another one blocked before the end of regulation.

The Stars move on to face the Edmonton Oilers in the West final for the second year in a row and will host Game 1. Connor McDavid and his club, which won in six games last year, wrapped up their second-round series with a 1-0 overtime win over Vegas on Wednesday night in Game 5.

Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 22 saves to wrap up his sixth playoff series win over the past three seasons. He made an incredible diving save with 8½ minutes left in regulation, leaning to the right before having to lunge back across his body toward the left post to knock down a shot by Mason Appleton.

Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 19 shots but couldn’t prevent a loss that assured a winless record for his club on the road this postseason. Meanwhile, his final goal allowed continued a magical season for Harley, Dallas’ breakout blueliner who also played for Team Canada this season in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“Not surprising to the guys in here,” Oettinger said of Harley’s rise to prominence. “We’re very lucky.”

Steel notched his first goal of the playoffs midway through the second period. He shot a long rebound from the top of the right circle, sending the puck into the upper right corner of the net just above Hellebuyck’s glove.

“I’m just disappointed,” Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry said. “We couldn’t get that [penalty] kill for [the fans], and get it back to win in Winnipeg for Game 7. But you know, [I’m] really proud of this group, and the way they handled everything, and the way we fought back. … It just came up short.”

The Jets become the next in a long line of Presidents’ Trophy winners to bow out early. The award, which goes to the NHL’s top regular-season team, was won by the New York Rangers last season before they lost in the Eastern Conference final. Two years ago, the No. 1 seed Boston Bruins lost in the first round to the Florida Panthers.

“We lost to a great team,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We lost to a team that was in our rearview mirror all year long.”

Scheifele’s effort was a focus for Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, who began his postgame media availability by saying what the Jets star forward did in playing Saturday was “courageous,” adding “I’m sure his dad would’ve been really proud of him and what he did.”

For the Stars, it’s off to the NHL’s final four, as the franchise continues to seek its second Stanley Cup title.

“I think we’ve got something special going on. We’re going to have to prove it again,” DeBoer said. “You know, we’ve been to this spot the last two years and haven’t taken the next step, so that’s the challenge.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.