Walgreens Thief Casually Fills Trash Bag and Cycles Out While Security Guard Films

A video of a brazen thief in Walgreens is going viral.

The clip, shot in a San Francisco Walgreens on Monday afternoon, shows the robber casually filling a trash bag full of merchandise from the shelves as people stand around and film — including the store's own security guard.

"Called 911 — did they do anything?" one woman filming asks. "Wow."

The man throws his haul into the basket of his bicycle and nonchalantly scoots toward the exit, right through the crowd of witnesses. The security guard makes a half-hearted attempt to grab the bag as he passes, but the thief just shrugs him off, and calmly cycles out the door into broad daylight.

Some commenters on the clip, which has already been viewed more than 2.3million times, were frustrated by the guard's inaction.

"Damn. Security pretty tight at that place," one wrote.

"The security guard could not at least rip open the trash bag?" another asked.

The comments continued: "The security guy was terrible." "It's the Wild West and the sheriff has taken the day off." "lol at the security guard. Captain of the 'not my job' brigade."

"What's the point in security if he’s just going to stand there recording the crime they might as well sack him and use security cameras to do same job, why not use mace or a blue spray that dyes the skin for decades just letting him walk out encourages other low lifes to steal?"

But according to TS4 Security, the guard was just following orders.

"Our clients tell us what to do," District Manager Peter Ha told TooFab. "Every single company, when we work with them, we train them and tell them exactly what to do and what not to do. The specific companies tell us what to do, and we follow the orders."

According to the SF Chronicle, shoplifting has forced Walgreens alone to shutter 17 of its San Francisco stores in the past five years. It claims theft at its 53 remaining locations in the city is four times the average for its stores elsewhere in the country.

It spends 35 times more on security guards there than anywhere else.

Last year, one manager told TooFab her store lost $2,000-$3,000 worth of stock per day, as thieves immediately went to sell the loot at the metro station for $1 per item.