CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Police in North Carolina are looking for a pair of suspected thieves accused of targeting Hispanic businesses around the state, including two stores in Charlotte.
They were caught on camera in Charlotte in early January, but no one put the pieces together until they were just caught on camera again, accused of stealing $20,000 from a business near Raleigh.
Workers at two stores in Charlotte say they didn’t think much about their interaction with the man and woman other than that it was strange, but not a crime, so they didn’t report it to police. But now police are involved after other stores around the state were hit, and they’re searching for the suspects.
Everybody pretty much knows everybody at La Corona Market grocery store on North Tryon Street.
“It’s just locals here on North Tryon, people we know,” said Christopher John Guerrero Salto, a La Corona Market employee
But when one couple came in on Jan. 6, no one recognized them.
“I think this is the first time we’ve ever seen them, and they were just wearing their hats real low,” said Guerrero Salto.
The same workers say the couple visited Tienda Los Arcos on West Sugar Creek Road.
Guerrero Salto says his co-workers had their alert up at the time.
“They told me it was like, suspicious, and they were cautious with it,” said Guerrero Salto. “None of them left the counter because they claimed they knew what they were doing.”
On Wednesday, Queen City News confirmed from Cary Police that they have now identified the couple: Lytesha Deborah Ann Miller and Lamont Edwards Fleming.
Workers in Charlotte say they believe the man and woman were trying to distract them and get them out from behind the counter by asking them to take down expensive items.
Weeks later the exact same thing happened, but this time police say they stole a lot of cash.
Detectives say the couple also targeted Hispanic stores in Wilson and Cary.
Cary Police officers tell Queen City News the couple is accused of stealing $20,000 in cash at a store there.
The suspected thieves haven’t been caught, but workers hope that by sharing the photos, police will find them.
Police in Cary say they worked with several different police departments, including in Wilson, Morrisville, and Knightdale, to identify the couple.
In the Cary case, detectives say one of them distracted the workers, while the other stole money from a lockbox.
