Surveillance leads to arrest of Redlands shoplifter

REDLANDS — Television surveillance cameras led to the arrest of an alleged shoplifter by Redlands police on Tuesday.

Brittany Ashton Houser, 19, who had reportedly stolen several dresses at Devi, a store located at the east end of Redlands Mall, was arrested five miles from the downtown crime scene.

“This is exactly what the system was intended to do,” said Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueerman.

Police say downtown surveillance cameras have led to the interdiction of commercial burglaries, assaults, drunk driving incidents and vandalism. In this case, a Devi employee spotted Houser in the act, contacted police and led a dispatch shift supervisor to spot the suspect on camera.

According to reports, Houser was spotted on the surveillance camera where she met up with a man and a baby and made her way along Redlands Boulevard. Redlands Police dispatch supervisor Shayna Walker used several camera placements to follow Houser’s movements.

Using a combination of state and federal grant funds supplemented by funding from the Redlands Redevelopment Agency, the Redlands Police Department has been working to improve a downtown surveillance system that was first put in place in November 2006.

Bueerman said the benefits of the the surveillance include “having the ability to immediately put eyes on the area of a reported crime, locate a suspect and direct limited resources right where they are needed.”

The chief added that they system helps police leverage valuable resources strained by current economic conditions.