A man suspected of trying to steal electronics and clothing from a Costa Mesa Target was arrested last week after fleeing the store and removing items of clothing in an apparent effort to change his appearance, according to the Costa Mesa Police Department.
In a November 6 update, the department said store loss prevention employees confronted the man after he filled a shopping cart with merchandise and attempted to leave without paying. He left the goods behind when challenged and ran from the store. Witnesses then saw him moving between the shopping center and a neighboring gas station.
During that escape, the suspect discarded a baseball cap and sweatshirt, according to the account. Responding Costa Mesa officers arrived quickly and encountered him as he fled. Police said a later examination of the store’s surveillance recordings connected the same man to another theft at that Target the previous day.
The incident comes amid a broader rise in reported shoplifting across Orange County, even as overall property crime has declined. A 2026 Orange County Crime Statistics Report, drawing on California Department of Justice data, reported that property offenses countywide decreased by 28.7 percent from 2021 through 2025. Shoplifting followed a different pattern during that period.
Reported shoplifting offenses increased from 5,357 in 2021 to 8,327 in 2025, a rise of 55.4 percent, according to the report. Shoplifting also represented a larger portion of the county’s larceny-theft reports. Its share reached 26.8 percent in 2025, compared with 13.0 percent in 2021, meaning that proportion more than doubled over the four-year period.
Across California, the source reported 121,339 shoplifting incidents in 2025. It also said state-funded retail theft task forces had made more than 32,000 arrests and recovered nearly $260 million in stolen merchandise since late 2023. Those figures provide statewide context for the retail theft enforcement activity described in Costa Mesa.
Regional retail crime reporting compiled by New Santa Ana placed Costa Mesa among five Orange County cities with the highest volumes of retail theft arrests, alongside Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine and Huntington Beach. The outlet described enforcement activity as concentrated in major population centers and commercial areas, citing South Coast Plaza and large retail centers along Harbor Boulevard among Costa Mesa’s shopping destinations.
