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A car was stolen in Queens and crashed into a KFC with the owner still inside. The car was lodged into the restaurant, causing damage. The podcast discusses the impact of shoplifting on the community and businesses. It focuses on collaborative shoplifting and walking out as major methods. Organized crime is discussed, where stolen items are sold online. The podcast also mentions the effects of shoplifting on businesses, employees, and customers, leading to increased security measures and online shopping. I stole a car in Queens and then crashed it into a KFC, the owner of the car still inside. CBS2's Jenna DeAngelo is joining us now live in Kew Gardens with our top story. Jenna. Well Dana, we're in front of the KFC where that happened, I want to give you a look at the damage here. As you can see, the giant hole in the front of the restaurant shattered glass all over the sidewalk and employees of the restaurant have been working to clean up the damage. Now police have just moved the car from the building onto the street. Video from Chopper 2 shows the car lodged into the restaurant at the corner of Union Turnpike and Parsons Boulevard. Police say it all started when the suspect tried to steal items from a nearby... Welcome to another episode of Did You Know? The podcast where we talk about topics that affect the community and our daily lives. Where we discuss real topics and real problems that affects everyone. Today on our podcast, I, your host, Kofi Persaud, will talk about shoplifting. The audio you just listened to is just a brief summary of a regular day at work when a normal case of shoplifting took a turn for the worse. Today we are going to discuss how shoplifting affects the community, your pockets, the people who shoplift, and ultimately the businesses, how they're impacted, not forgetting the people who actually work in those businesses. So a lot to discuss, and we'll get right into our podcast. There are many methods of shoplifting, but today I want to focus on two major methods. The first one is collaborative shoplifting, which involves multiple individuals. And then the second one I want to talk about is walking out. This is where the individual walks in, either with a large bag or briefcase sometimes, or a shopping cart. And they just walk in, conceals or fills it up with as much as they can carry, and then exit the premises without paying. So those are the major areas that I want to really focus on. We're not just talking about the regular shoplifter that just walks in, steals a piece of bread or something to eat with a soda and just leave, or you know, kids stealing candy. We're talking about organized crime, the type where the stuff gets stolen from the store and ends up on a major online platform like Amazon or eBay, and then those parties involve profits, while the retailers end up filing for bankruptcy or something like that. Welcome back again to the second part of our podcast. Now when I say collaborative shoplifting, what comes to mind? Well, from what I understand based on, you know, being in the retail environment, it's really organized crime, or organized shoplifting in other words. So really what it's about is you have maybe 2, 3, 4 possibly individuals, and they have like this boss, or you know, major party who's like the one responsible for like selling the merchandise that they steal. So you know, they get tasked with going to certain stores or retailers and robbing certain merchandise and then bring it back to that boss or whatever, and you know, that's when they'll figure out how to like sell it, whether it's online or whatever other means they have as far as like, you know, making money from those merchandise. Another one that, you know, I'm really familiar with is, you know, when you're in the store and then you have someone come to the register. So what they'll try to do, they'll try to distract either the cashier, or if there's like maybe another worker in the store, they'll probably go try to like get them to help them go look for an item, keeping them distracted while their friends or, you know, whoever they are, whoever's with them is gonna go and start like, you know, filling up a bag. Sometimes what they do is that they fill up a bag, then they find another spot in the store where it's like empty, and then they start filling like a handbag or a backpack, and then they walk right out of the store. Now how does it affect the community? Well these fencers that are sent out by their boss, they go to different locations, steal whatever list of items they're given, and then take it back to them. Well what happens to the businesses and the people who has to deal with this? For starters, if you're like me, where you spent a lot of time working in retail, you understand the amount of work that goes into restocking your shelves. For starters, the labor hours are expensive, the merchandise the company sends to your store is also being charged to the store. And then on top of that, the trauma that's experienced by the employees, who are constantly threatened by some of these individuals. Now what kind of trauma, you might say. Now picture this, your old grandma's in the store, she's trying to get some body lotion, and two to three individuals walk into a store with masks, and they proceed to the aisle where your grandma is. They don't say anything to her, and she is scared, so she doesn't say anything to them. So they would just, you know, then fill up whatever they need, and leave, before the cops get there. Now picture the same scenario, where your grandma is trying to do the right thing, by trying to notify the store employees, or somebody else, that someone is stealing. Now how does shoplifting affect the store and the community? Now think about the last time you visited a store. You needed a key to get toothpaste, you needed a key to get infant's formula, if you need beer, ice cream, if you need detergent, you needed to wait for an employee to go get it for you. Now this is what it's come to, it's at the point where nothing is accessible anymore, and everything is locked up. Now these customers, because of accessibility, decide to go and shop online, from Amazon or eBay. Amazon is supposed to be a credible retailer, however, later on you find out that the merchandise that you're paying for had been stolen from your neighborhood, Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS, and is being resold on Amazon.