The owner of a Los Angeles boutique says that he used Instagram to expose various people who he claims stole items from his store. In at least one instance, the taken items have been returned.
Tired of burglars and shoplifters, Fraser Ross, the owner of Pacific Palisades-based lifestyle boutique Kitson, has decided to expose thieves and publicly shame them via social media. The decision attempts to catch and discourage people from committing similar crimes.
Ross has reportedly been doing extensive detective work for quite some time by crafting online social media posts and utilizing store surveillance footage to gather information about different criminals. This week, he garnered extra attention after he exposed a social media influencer shoplifting at his boutique.
As can be viewed in the Instagram post, Ross shared a video of influencer Sofia Arevalo and her friend, Patrick Moogan, inside the store. In the video, Moogan hands Arevalo a hat, and the influencer fills her Lululemon bag with Free City items.
Ross wrote in the caption of his post, “We will expose the names of the people tomorrow. The female has 42K followers, and the mail is a ********* around town. They work on shoplifting together.” He added, “We have done extensive research on them with the help of a loyal follower.”
On the incident, Ross said, “I guess it’s public shaming, but I don’t know what to do.” He added, “We just came to a point that this is what we have to do.”
In a follow-up post, Ross exposed Arevalo’s name, place of employment, and frequented locations. The post was a long message that read in part, “Meet Sophia Arevalo a serial shoplifter and all-around piece of ****. Please pass this post around so this person is known throughout LA. Wherever she goes people will whisper that’s the woman that steals from small businesses…”
In the caption, Ross added, “If everyone passes this around, businesses around LA can keep her profile and ban her from their establishment if they want as she is a menace to society.” He continued, “Erewhon, be very aware. She loves Nobu and all the fancy restaurants.”
When Ross posted the initial video, he had not yet realized that Arevalo was a public figure with more than 50K followers on Instagram. Since the incident, Arevalo has seemingly made her account private.
Ross explains, “When you see all these smash-and-grabs, you aren’t seeing your usual suspects… They’re very wealthy people with expensive cars, expensive jewelry, expensive handbags, living the life of luxury.”
Ross noted in the caption on his follow-up post that Arevalo had yet to pay for the goods she had stolen. However, it has now been reported that the influencer eventually returned to Kitson, where she paid for the hat and also returned two shirts.
Another woman who had shoplifted at the exact location, Anisha Tedake, reportedly returned nearly $1,000 in stolen merchandise after being exposed online.
Ross, who contacted law enforcement on both occasions, is convinced that more should be done to prevent shoplifting. He says, “It’s not enough to say it’s gone… You need to arrest anyone that’s stealing and put that message out there.”
