AVENTURA, Fla. – A “recently-terminated” loss prevention employee at the Aventura Mall Nordstrom store caused a six-figure loss to the department store chain when she used her inside knowledge to steal designer handbags and jewelry, authorities said.
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Princess Ellis, 29, of northeast Miami-Dade, is facing four felony charges following her arrest on Friday. Aventura police also arrested an accused co-conspirator, identified as Marc Joseph Durall, 34.
According to an Aventura Police Department arrest report, on May 23, Ellis managed to hide in the store for “several hours” while waiting for employees to leave.
Ellis, police said, “was aware due to her prior employment that, because of a security system malfunction, the store maintained two security guards inside overnight.”
“Approximately two hours after the store closed, (Ellis) is captured on CCTV footage exiting a storage room of the business and moving through the store to the jewelry section,” the report states. “(She) then utilizes her store security keys, which she did not return upon her termination, to open several jewelry cases. (Ellis) is then observed dropping multiple jewelry cases worth of designer jewelry into her backpack.”
Authorities said she then stole two designer handbags worth $4,000 and left through an emergency exit.
The report states that while she donned “a camouflage hooded jacket and a black hat,” along with “long neck black platform boots,” she didn’t bother hiding her face.
Authorities said Durall was arrested on a burglary charge the next day after “using a stolen employee access code” to gain entry into the store. They said Ellis had access to the code and was texting Durall at the time.
According to the report, police went to Ellis’ apartment in the 2500 block of Northeast 179th Street, in the unincorporated Ojus area, to serve a search warrant Thursday.
She swapped a stolen $1,500 bracelet on one wrist for a pair of handcuffs on both, police said.
The report states that officers recovered 15 pieces of jewelry and a stolen purse, but more than $100,000 in goods remained unaccounted for.
Authorities said Ellis, who also had a warrant out of Georgia, was taken to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital under the Baker Act and then arrested on Friday.
She’s been banned from Nordstrom ― and the Aventura Mall as a whole ― for 10 years.
Facing charges of first-degree grand theft, unlawful use of a communications device and two counts of burglary, Ellis was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a bond of more than $30,000 as of Monday.
Court records show Durall was released on a $2,500 bond following his arrest.