Two accused of stealing from downtown Portland Lululemon store as part of larger theft ring

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Two people were arrested, accused of stealing several items from the downtown Portland Lululemon store. Law enforcement officials say the pair is part of an organized retail theft ring that’s responsible for over $100,000 worth of thefts in the area.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office shared video of the suspects stuffing merchandise into their jackets or pockets at the Lululemon. The suspects, 33-year-old Markesha McGruder and 28-year-old Elexis Jackson, are both from Portland and facing several charges, including organized retail crime, first-degree theft and aggravated theft.

Portland Police Bureau officers arrested the two after a coordinated traffic stop in Northeast Portland and found 25 items they said were stolen.

“A lot of those items still had like the magnetic security tags on them,” PPB Officer David Ramos said. “I think one of the tags looked like it had been melted down as an attempt to remove. Another security tag that had, you know, some stuff on it.” 

Theresa Turner is the deputy district attorney who heads up the office’s retail theft task force. She said the pair is only part of a larger theft ring.

“This is a huge step in dismantling this group that has cost over six figures worth of theft in our county alone,” she said. “And, Miss McGruder and Miss Jackson, you know, they're connected to a broader framework, multiple individuals that have outstanding warrants.”

Turner said the group is local, made up of about 15 people. Their thefts in the area go back to around 2016, but Turner said they also work across Oregon and into Washington. The goal: put the stolen merchandise up in hopes of scoring a profit.

“Any kind of third party platforms that are being resold, that is where a lot of the items we end up seeing, a lot of the items and sometimes where our investigations can begin, is online, some of them we encounter, you can still have the tags on them,” Turner said.

Turner said the people they are dealing with in these cases are not one-time offenders.

“My average defendant has about 25 different separate incidents,” she said. And so we're talking about someone that's going there over and over and over and over again. I even have someone who has 129 incidents over and over and over and over again. We're not seeing that for personal use.”

McGruder has several prior theft charges as far back as 2016, most recently last month. Jackson has no prior theft charges.