What Richmond is doing to combat shoplifting at Virginia ABC stores

RICHMOND, Va. -- Police in Richmond are working to decrease shoplifting from Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) stores.

Virginia ABC stores saw more than 14,326 bottles of liquor worth $808,371 stolen in the first six months of the year, according to the agency. That number was a 46.5% increase from the same time in 2023.

• One store in McLean had the single highest amount stolen in one incident: 76 bottles worth $9,420.24.
• The most bottles stolen was 228 bottles worth $7,953.72 from a store in Manassas.
• The most expensive item taken (from multiple stores) was Clase Azul Tequila Añejo, with a retail price of $559.99.

The trend is the driving force of an increase in shoplifting cases in Richmond, according to the city's police chief.
"We had a total of 932 shopliftings, 477 took place at ABC stores," Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said. "Fifty-one percent of all shoplifting in our city has taken place in an ABC store."

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The issue of shoplifting from Virginia ABC stores was highlighted by Edwards during his mid-year crime briefing. He said there were 477 separate cases.

Data from Virginia ABC officials showed there were 904 incidents including Hanover, Henrico, and Chesterfield worth over $155,000.

• There were only three cases in Hanover.
• The most heavily targeted store in Henrico was the Willow Lawn location at 83 times.
• While the Stonebridge Plaza store was the most targeted in Chesterfield at 75 times.

In Richmond, the store near West Broad and North Harrison Streets was hit 85 times for $8,111.27 worth of product.
Edwards said the department worked with the Virginia ABC to convert the Richmond location from a standard store where customers get the bottles themselves to what is called a package or counter store.

"Which basically puts the bottles behind glass," Edwards said. "So you will have to go up to -- there will be zero shoplifting going forward."

ABC officials said there are six stores around the state, including two others in Richmond and one in Petersburg, are set up similarly. However, those three stores have always followed that concept.

Two stores in Portsmouth were converted to counter stores at the start of the year.

"We anticipate that when I'm before you again in three months, hopefully it might disperse some of it," Edwards said. "But we're still hoping for a better overall reduction."

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In a statement about the rise in thefts, ABC officials said the agency is taking a multi-pronged approach, including working with law enforcement and switching to counter stores to improve customer and employee safety.

Other steps include limiting the number of high-theft items that are on display at one time as well as moving those to be in staffers' line of sight.

Officials added that staff are trained to gather actionable information about suspects, rather than confront them directly as no product is worth risking their safety.

This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.