Police: 3 men break into Providence Place store

PROVIDENCE — Three men broke into the Champs Sports store at the now-shuttered Providence Place mall Sunday and made off with about $15,000 worth of shoes and clothing and $500 in cash, police said.

Officers were called to the mall — closed in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus — just before 5 p.m. and found the Champs store in disarray, with items scattered all around the floor.

The store manager told police he went there for a report of an alarm, and saw two men in the store. They took off when he arrived, he told police. As he reviewed security footage, he heard another person jump down from an elevated surface with a thud.

According to video footage, the three suspects got into the store at about 1:30 p.m., then loaded up bags of merchandise again and again until the manager got there. The men were wearing rubber gloves and had their hoodies covering their faces, police said.

Police found three screwdrivers, a hammer, a white backpack, a draw-string bag and a duffel bag inside the storage area, as well as pry marks near the lock of the rear door.

Police said it was unclear how the men got into the mall, but they were seen in closed-circuit television footage with a shopping cart filled with several bags walking down the south side garage entrance toward Promenade Street.

No arrests have been made, and detectives are investigating, Commander Thomas Verdi said.

On Monday afternoon, police released images of people they are looking to identify. Anyone with information on the theft, or the people in the photos, is asked to contact Detective Troy Lambert at (401) 243-6330 or tlambert@providenceri.gov. bamaral@ providencejournal.com

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