On May 13 at about 8 p.m., aSanta Monica police officer responded to the Nike store at 118 Santa Monica Place mall regarding a theft that involved a store employee.
When the officer arrived, the store manager explained he saw the employee and one of the employee's friends picking out several store items the week prior and placing them on a table. A short time later, the employee acted as if he was ringing up the items while the friend tried to distract the manager.
Both the employee and his friend were acting suspiciously, so the manager checked the sales receipt after the friend left with the items.The manager discovered the employee gave his friend over $300 worth of goods but only charged him for one $17 item.
After doing some research, the manager also discovered the employee and his friend did the same thing at a Nike store in Beverly Hills the month before.
The manager then notified the store's loss prevention agents, who detained the employee after he returned to work. The suspect was taken into custody and later booked at the Santa Monica jail. Brett Deangelis, 31, of Los Angeles, had bail set at $1,000.
