A surveillance video caught a woman lifting several oatmeal cream pies from an honor-system farm stand. The video has been shared by Gone Astray Goods, a micro-bakery in Loveland, Colorado. After the surveillance footage went viral and generated significant attention online, police charged the suspect.
The bakery's owner, Stephanie Courville, named the incident the case of the "Oatmeal Cream Pie Bandit" and said it actually happened twice within a matter of weeks. In a May 10 video update posted to Facebook, she described the first theft that she observed via the CCTV footage.
The woman arrived with an oversized bag, which she filled with as many baked goods as she could carry, including almost the whole batch of oatmeal cream pies the bakery's followers had voted on. Then the "bandit" grabbed some more items in her arms, said "thanks" to the camera, and walked away.
Courville said in the update: "I think I had five left after that, I ended up putting out, so like five other people got oatmeal cream pies."
Courville initially chose not to go public, not wanting to alert the suspect before gathering more information. According to her, the woman returned. She said she had to walk outside just as the suspect had already begun filling her bag. Courville told the woman she had an outstanding tab from a few weeks earlier and asked how she would like to pay. In reply, the woman said she would get her phone from her car parked down the street. Of course, she never returned.
Courville followed her after that and filmed the encounter. The suspect, she said, tried to back out of the neighborhood to prevent her license plate from getting recorded, but was forced to turn around. That's when Courville captured the plate on video and turned the footage over to the police.
Social media users also found it appalling that the suspect had arrived in a Range Rover. On Reddit, users highlighted the contradiction between the suspect's apparent wealth and her decision to steal from a small honor-system business.
One commenter wrote, "She could've bought the whole stand out and it wouldn't affect her monthly budget." Others noted the sting of stealing from an honor-system small business.
Another commenter who identified as a New York bakery owner suggested the theft may have been motivated by resale rather than personal need, noting that theft of artisan baked goods by competitors or resellers does occur.
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Courville also said that she wants the full amount the suspect took in both incidents, including goods stolen from a neighboring vendor who operates out of the same stand. She added that she shared the suspect's image publicly in case other businesses had been targeted.
Gone Astray Goods is located on Boxelder Drive in Loveland and restocks the stand on Fridays.
