Four suspects, including a 12-year-old girl who is a ward of the court out of San Francisco for juvenile human trafficking, were detained Saturday in connection with an attempted theft at a Ross department store in San Mateo. Police believe the suspects are connected to numerous retail thefts throughout the Bay Area.
At 4:46 p.m., while San Mateo police officers were patrolling the parking lot of the Ross store at 640 Concar Drive, they were flagged down by a store employee about a theft in progress, police said. Additional officers saturated the area and detained four suspects believed to be stealing from the business.
Officers reviewed security footage and confirmed the theft occurred, and also discovered the getaway vehicle was related to numerous thefts in the Bay Area, police said.
Three of the suspects, Christopher Marc Wise, 31, of Hayward; Jeremiah Witherspoon, 24, of San Francisco; and Dontrice Ahjanae Thompson, 27, of San Francisco, “had extensive criminal history,” police said, “and the fourth suspect (a 12-year-old) was a ward of the court out of San Francisco for juvenile human trafficking.”
A search of the suspects’ getaway cars uncovered a ghost gun (non-serialized firearm), ammunition, burglary tools, suspected fentanyl, narcotic paraphernalia, additional narcotics and stolen merchandise, police said.
“One suspect was booked at San Mateo County Jail, two were released by citation in compliance with jail COVID-19 protocol, and the juvenile was transported to San Francisco County Child Protective Services,” police said.
Photo of the suspect vehicle credited to the San Mateo Police Department
