Pickleball paddle thefts plague Philadelphia-area stores

Owners of sports shops in the Philadelphia region say they're the victims of a pickleball-paddle racket — and it seems they're not alone.

The big picture: East Coast stores, stretching from Washington to Long Island, New York, have seen a rash of paddle thefts, racking up thousands of dollars in losses, the Washington Post reports.

Driving the news: The owners of Tennis Junction in suburban Bryn Mawr, and Everyone's Racquet in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, tell Axios that, over the past month, three people stole more than $5,000 worth of paddles combined.

• The owners reported the thefts to police but, without surveillance footage, were told little could be done.
• Store owners allege a man distracted employees while two women in loose-fitting dresses and scarves took dozens of paddles — which can fetch more than $250 — by hiding them under their clothes.

Zoom out: Police told the WP they're investigating the possibility that a group using similar tactics stole paddles at stores in the D.C. region.

• Similar thefts are showing up in other parts of the country — a store in Colorado had $30,000 worth of pickleball paddles stolen in February.
• And a Las Vegas store lost $4,000 worth of paddles in April, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal .

Police in Bryn Mawr and Mount Laurel didn't immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.