Portland police identify 3 men accused of pickpocketing Costco, WinCo shoppers on multiple occasions

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — With the community's help, Portland police have now positively identified the three suspects accused of pickpocketing shoppers at big box stores in the metro area, though they aren't releasing their names yet.

KOIN 6 was the first to break the news about how a group of pickpocketers were stealing wallets from unsuspecting shoppers at Costcos up and down the I-5 corridor. They'd use credit cards to buy hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards before victims even realized their wallets were missing.

On Friday, KOIN 6 learned that WinCo saw our news report and contacted detectives because the same pickpocketers allegedly targeted shoppers at their stores, too. In the case of WinCo, a store chain that doesn’t accept credit cards, the accused thieves were watching for people to use their debit cards to later use their pin numbers after picking their pockets.

This is a developing story as police are searching for the suspects.

Police are asking people to contact them if they lost their wallet recently and now realize these men potentially stole it, that way investigators can track down any relevant surveillance footage. 

"The sooner, the better because video is only held for so long and I'd like to be able to charge them with as many crimes as they've committed," said Jordan Zaitz, a Portland police detective working the case. 

Anyone with information about the case or anyone who thinks they may be a victim is urged to contact police.