LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Lynnwood Police are asking the community to help identify a woman who stole a fanny pack containing a teenager's savings. More than $1,000 was in the bag. It happened at the Bella's Voice thrift shop location that sells furniture.
Security video from Bella's Voice shows the woman entering the store as customers and employees were loading up a couch. The unidentified woman spotted the black fanny pack on a dresser. She looked inside, saw the money, checked to see if anyone noticed her, and walked off with the bag full of cash.
Yvette Hoffman, co-founder of Bella's Voice, described the incident as "heartbreaking" and "awful."
"Their son had saved this money for over a year to buy his family new furniture and that was the money they used to purchase the couch," Hoffman said. "I asked them if they had enough room for the couch, it was a large sectional. The father told me they had plenty of room and that right now, their son is sleeping on the couch, it's a small couch. He'll be so much more comfortable now."
Hoffman didn't mince words when asked what she would say to the woman in the video.
"Shame on you. Shame on you for taking someone's money," she said.
The family is considering starting a GoFundMe. If that happens, the thrift shop plans to donate to it.
Earlier this year, Bella's Voice was broken into three times within 10 days. In those incidents, thieves made off with electronics and other donations.