Spirit Halloween employees are trying to fend off shoplifters in Kelowna and Kamloops, but the possibility of retaliation is dangerous.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

A Spirit Halloween store employee in Kamloops was threatened with bear spray and a knife when he tried to retrieve a shoplifted jacket last week.

A man was spotted leaving the Halloween store, Sept. 15, wearing a jacket from the outlet. It was a novelty Friday the 13th letterman jacket.

The employee followed him out of the store and tried to retrieve the stolen merchandise and that's when the man turned and threatened him with bear spray and a knife.

Cheryl Holmes runs several Spirit Halloween outlets in B.C. with her family, including the Kamloops and Kelowna locations.

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Holmes and a Kamloops store manager said staff are often very watchful for shoplifters, sometimes following people out the store if they're spotted taking something. 

In this case, however, Holmes said she's hoping the man will be charged with armed robbery, since he used bear spray and a knife to threaten staff in the incident. She said she doesn't pressure staff to retrieve stolen items, but they will often try. 

If the do they're putting themselves at risk, and the Kamloops store isn't alone.

A manager in Kelowna has stopped thieves before they leave and retrieving stolen goods several times this season already. Holmes showed iNFOnews.ca recent security footage from the Kelowna store where a manager tried to tackle a shoplifter, but the man also pulled out a can of bear spray, threatening to spray it near customers while still in the store.

The items that are stolen range from the Friday the 13th letterman jacket, to full costumes and masks. 

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The Kamloops location just opened about two weeks ago, Holmes said. It replaced the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which cited ongoing thefts in the store as its reason for closing the newly-opened store.

Kamloops RCMP said the detachment was called around 4:45 p.m., Sept. 15. The suspect, described as a man with a blue mohawk and an orange shirt, fled southbound on Tranquille Road, according to police.

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Holmes said police didn't respond immediately, and eventually showed up on Sept. 23 to get more information and surveillance footage of the incident. Kamloops RCMP disputes that claim, however, and said at least one officer responded around 6 p.m. to the store on the day of the theft.

She's hoping the store garners a reputation among would-be thieves that employees are watching, and they'll likely try to stop someone from leaving the store. Within the first two weeks of opening, they started stopping high school students from entering the store on lunch breaks or after school, unless accompanied by an adult.

Surveillance footage near Spirit Halloween in Kamloops shows the employee trying to stop a shoplifter on Sept. 15, 2022, until the man turns around with bear spray in his hand.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Evan Angel

— This story was corrected at 4:21 p.m. Sept. 28, 2022, with a comment from Kamloops RCMP stating an officer responded to the store on the day of the theft.

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