How “Sheriff Kim” broke the sunglasses crime ring.
Posted July 8, 2014
Bad guys beware! Our receptionist Kim is on the case each and every day.
Kim always has been fascinated by the criminal mind. She reads the books, watches crime TV shows, and even has a police scanner app (she says scanning Chicago is SCARY)! Not only is she fascinated with the criminal mind, she also has incredible street smarts. This all proved to be extremely helpful when a sunglasses crime ring struck the New River Valley and Roanoke Valley. Lucky for us, “Sheriff Kim” was on the job!
Here is how it went down: The sunglasses bandits worked in teams. One would distract the opticians, pretending to be shopping for glasses, while their partner-in-crime eased over to the sunglasses display to make their swipe. Alternatively, they would try on several pairs, walking back and forth to the mirror, ultimately slipping a pair into their clothes. The opticians had a feeling something wasn’t right but only spotted the missing sunglasses after the crime team left.
Once we realized what had happened we knew we needed to take action. At the suggestion of Dr. Gudeman, Kim called other offices to give them a heads up. Turns out it was too late. The sunglasses bandits had struck seven (yes, seven!) other eye care offices from Roanoke to Blacksburg. The other offices reported the same M.O., descriptions of the bandits, and even consistent phrases used by the “shopper”. The sunglass crime ring was bigger and more organized than we knew!
Fortunately for us (but not the thieves) we had the theft on video. Dr. Gudeman was able to capture the crime and a head-shot image of the thief. The local detective on our case actually recognized the thief (“the perp”). We also had other secret evidence tying the theft to specific glasses (I can’t tell you how- or it wouldn’t be a secret). Anyway, busted!
Kim took all this information in and went into action! She searched EBay and – BINGO- found a homemade sunglass site selling a number of sunglasses-some of which matched the exact frames that had been stolen. She shared all her investigative work with the police detective. Now we had identified the suspects, could precisely identify the frames, and had a number of victims/offices with the same story.
This matter went to court and justice was done—thanks largely to Kim. The sunglasses bandits had their day in court, the sunglasses were returned, and the crime ring was busted. Without Kim’s knowledge, interest, and dedication to solving this crime it would still be happening. Not only that, this story demonstrates Kim’s commitment to the Invision team and to always doing the right thing. As a result of this somewhat wild experience we will forever know Kim as Invision’s Sheriff (she has the plastic sheriff badge to prove it–ask to see it next time you visit us). Kim also has the admiration and well earned respect of our entire team. Oh, and by the way, she remains vigilant each and every day – keeping an eye on our sunglasses!