Thief sought in panty raid at the mall

Who stole 300 pairs of Victoria's unmentionables?

A black-market panty purveyor? A pervert with a knicker fetish? A shopper who couldn't help but help herself — or himself — to a year's supply of underwear?

How the thief or thieves managed to swipe such a large quantity of women's panties — in a variety of colors, styles and sizes — from Victoria's Secret in Bellevue Square on Sunday afternoon is a mystery, said Bellevue police spokeswoman Marcia Harnden.

"It's very unusual — it's shoplifting to the max," Harnden said.

An employee noticed the theft just before 5 p.m., Harnden said. Two display tables at the front of the store were cleared of their frilly, silky merchandise, and two other tables — one of them next to the cash register — were half-emptied of their panty stock, she said.

"It's probably a crime of opportunity," Harnden said. "There's any range of possibilities — we could have a pervert doing it ... (for) sexual gratification, it could be somebody who'd take (the underwear) to a flea market to sell it there or it could be for someone's personal use."

Bellevue police occasionally monitor eBay, the online auction site, for stolen goods. Harnden said it's possible the thief or thieves could try to sell the stolen panties — either online or at local flea markets. "But if I were the consumer, I'd be very leery about buying undergarments from a disreputable source," she said.

A Victoria's Secret store manager estimated that 300 pairs were missing, Harnden said, adding that each pair retails at $15 to $28, putting the store's total loss at about $5,000.

"All the employees were busy" helping customers, and no one noticed any suspicious shoppers, she said.

There's no indication of an inside heist, Harnden added, speculating that the thief or thieves "could have kept an eye on the employees and dished 'em into a backpack or something when no one was looking." A Bellevue Square store manager declined to discuss the theft, referring questions to Victoria's Secret corporate headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

A company spokesperson couldn't be reached for comment.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com