A 42-year-old Chicago woman has been charged with theft after a Cook County Sheriff investigation found she was part of an organized retail theft crew that paid homeless people with money, narcotics, or clothing to steal merchandise from Lululemon and other retailers across Northeastern Illinois. The crew would then return the stolen items to retailers for store credit. The crew has stolen more than $100,000 in merchandise. The investigation is ongoing.

A 42-year-old Chicago woman has been charged with felony theft after a Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigation connected her to a regional organized retail theft crew that exploited unhoused individuals and stole more than $100,000 in merchandise from Lululemon and other retailers across Northeastern Illinois according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

Roise Spencer, 42 (Cook County Sheriff)

The Fraudulent Return

On August 4, 2026, Lululemon loss prevention employees and Cook County Sheriff’s Police Organized Retail Crime investigators observed a fraudulent return at the Lululemon store in the 900 block of North Rush Street in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.

The offender returned stolen merchandise for store credit and then left in a black Jeep.

Investigators stopped the Jeep near the intersection of East Chestnut Street and North Wabash Avenue and took Roise Spencer, 42, into custody. Investigators learned Spencer had an active warrant for a drug possession and theft case.

Stolen merchandise (Cook County Sheriff)

The Organized Retail Theft Crew

Investigators connected Spencer to an ongoing Organized Retail Crime investigation that identified a crew operating throughout Northeastern Illinois.

The crew gave unhoused individuals money, narcotics, or clothing in exchange for stealing items from Lululemon and other retailers.

The stolen merchandise was then returned to retailers for store credit.

Spencer rents a storage unit in the 1000 block of West 111th Street in Chicago which was part of the ongoing investigation.

In April 2026 Organized Retail Crime Unit investigators executed search warrants on Spencer’s unit and several others recovering tens of thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise.

The Charges and Court Status

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Spencer with theft of more than $10,000 a felony in Illinois. She was also processed on the existing warrant.

On August 5 Spencer was ordered released from custody on the theft charge following her first appearance hearing at the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse.

However she remains in Cook County Jail custody on her separate drug possession and theft case.

The investigation into other members of the retail theft crew is ongoing according to the Sheriff’s Office.