The morning after the biggest shopping day of the year, a man dressed as a Brinks security guard carried out his biggest heist yet.
"This is not your run of the mill $100, $200 theft. This is $162,000 worth of cash. It's not credit card slips. It's not money orders, it's actual, tangible cash," Sunrise Police Detective Luis Fernandez said.
Police believe the man in Aéropostale’s surveillance video to be 24-year-old John Mortimer. They say he pulled off his daring steal on Nov. 26 – the day after Black Friday – at Aéropostale at Sawgrass Mills.
"You can see it's a full uniform complete with an identity badge," he said. "Everything's embroidered."
It looked so authentic, police later had to confirm with Brinks that he in fact had a costume.
"No one was any wiser, they let him right in, he walked right to the back of the store, the manager gave him the deposits, as he's done every day on his shift," Fernandez added.
Mortimer walked right out the front door.
"Very brazen, this is something that took a lot of planning," Fernandez said.
Police believe he might have had help from a store employee, and that he had at least two accomplices.
The first break in the case came when Plantation Police recovered a stolen car that turned out to be Mortimer's getaway car with evidence inside it.
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"They find what appears to be a Brinks hat, a Brinks uniform, a Brinks bag, a gun and a gun belt," Sunrise Police spokesperson Michelle Eddy said.
Mortimer has a history of petit theft, according to police. They are offering $1,000 for information leading to his arrest.
No one answered the door at Mortimer’s Lauderhill home on Blueberry Court on Wednesday.
"That would take guts, I know," said neighbor Tina Williams. "He wouldn't strike me as a person that would do that.”
