BOSTON — He came for cologne. Then he came back for sunglasses. Then he came back for more sunglasses.
That, according to Boston Police, is the alleged resume of one man — pictured in a surveillance photo District A-1 detectives circulated Monday — who police say cleaned out three different downtown stores in barely four weeks and walked out of every one of them without being stopped.
The first hit, per the BPD alert, came at 3:25 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2026, when officers were called to the CVS at 333 Washington Street for a larceny in progress. By the time they arrived, the suspect was gone — along with several bottles of cologne. Direction of flight: unknown.
Photo: Boston Police Department
Six days later, on Thursday, April 9, he allegedly walked into the Macy's a few hundred feet up the block at 450 Washington Street and lifted several pairs of sunglasses before slipping out onto State Street. Same district, same shift, same outcome — no chase, no arrest.
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Then on Friday, May 1, at 4:15 p.m., police say he turned up at the Sunglass Hut at 7 Faneuil Hall Marketplace and helped himself to more pairs of designer shades before disappearing toward Congress Street.
Three afternoons. Three stores. Three escapes — all inside roughly a half-mile of Downtown Crossing.
A shoplifting epidemic under Mayor Wu
The 'downtown looter' isn't operating in a vacuum. Under Mayor Michelle Wu's administration, brazen retail theft has become a fixture of life in the Hub:
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- Last December, MDN reported on Boston's once-bustling shopping streets now plagued by theft, as chains struggled to keep their doors open amid sustained shoplifting waves.
- The Sunglass Hut the 'downtown looter' hit on May 1 was looted twice in a single afternoon last December, with thieves making off with thousands in designer shades.
- The Macy's flagship he hit on April 9 was hit again on April 21 when a separate pair of suspects grabbed four Versace gift sets and bolted for the Orange Line.
- Around the corner on Boylston Street, the Alo athletic store was hit yet again two days ago — the same chain that's been robbed by adult shoplifters and juvenile thieves repeatedly through Wu's tenure.
MDN reported in September that Wu's soft-on-crime stance has begun driving chains out of Boston, with retailers citing the lack of consequences as the reason for closing downtown locations.
District A-1 detectives are asking anyone who recognizes the man in the photo to call (617) 343-4248. Anonymous tips can go to CrimeStoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS, by texting "TIP" to CRIME (27463), or through the BPD CrimeStoppers portal online.
No arrests have been made. Boston police did not say whether any of the stolen merchandise has been recovered.
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