Busted! Man caught 'stealing 850 pairs of underwear from Victoria's Secret'

Daniel Espinosa, 18, allegedly stole more than $15,000 of thongs from the Florida store

Teenager had just left school and claims he has no money in the bank

A Florida man accused of stealing a total of 850 pairs of panties from Victoria’s Secret is behind bars.

Daniel Espinosa, 18, allegedly stole more than $15,000 worth of stock from Victoria’s Secret on three occasions.

The thefts, which also involved a second suspect, took place at the Victoria’s Secret store at the Sawgrass Mills mall in South Florida.

You're nicked! Daniel Espinosa, 18, of Carol City, and a 17-year-old boy from Hialeah Gardens were arrested Wednesday after Sunrise Police say 850 garments worth $11,725 were stolen from the store during three incidents in 2012

In November of 2013, Espinosa stole 300 pieces of Dream Angels women’s underwear and allegedly on another date, stole 175 pairs of women’s underwear, and that was worth over $2,500.

At a circular kiosk that was stacked with drawers, panties were grabbed by the handful and stuffed into shopping bags, the videos showed.



The thongs were stashed into a blue and pink bag in a shopping cart, on top of which they placed another and wheeled it out of the store.

On a third occasion, he allegedly stole 375 pairs of women’s underwear worth more than $5,000 but was caught.

Quite a haul: 300 Dream Angels-style thongs valued at $3,750 went missing from the store on Nov. 23, police said. On Dec. 13, 175 pairs of women's underwear worth $2,500 were taken and on Dec. 20, 375 panties valued at $5,400 were stolen

How they got away with it: The teenage stashed the pinched panties into a shopping bag before making off with their goods

An employee, who works loss prevention at the store, watched as they put more than $5,400 worth of underwear into a bag and left the store.

She went after Espinosa and his accomplice confronting them in a mall common area. Police said they pushed to her to the ground, dropped the stolen merchandise and took off.

Where the lingerie was going to end up is part of the continuing police investigation, Sunrise Police Sgt. Rodney Hailey said.

A spokesperson for the store's parent company, L Brands, said it works closely with law enforcement on theft investigations.

Espinosa confessed to committing the three thefts and faces a grand theft charge.

Espinosa made his court appearance remotely via video. A public defender said Espinosa lives with his parents and is a recent high school graduate.

Espinosa said he has no money in the bank and has lived in South Florida his whole life.