Zara staff in Washington State chase suspected shoplifter. Cops only find evidence of racism

Zara staff at a Lynwood, Washington, mall chased a suspected shoplifter through the store and called the police.

But cops were unable to recover the supposedly stolen merchandise, and the alleged shoplifter ended up filing charges against clothing store employees, according to mall and bodycam security footage shared by the suspected shoplifter on social media.

“Shopping at Zara while Black”

In the first post, shared by Douniya (@itsdouniya) on TikTok and viewed around 2.7 million times, Douniya is seen running through the mall while Zara store staff chase her into the parking garage. The text overlay on the post reads, “POV shopping at Zara while Black.”

In a follow-up post, police bodycam footage shows an officer speaking with the fast-fashion retailer’s staff. They’re informed that the suspected shoplifter, Douniya, pulled over and called the police herself. “She said you guys were trying to like, follow her, I guess,” the officer says.

The footage then cuts to the officer speaking with another officer, livestreaming from the scene where Douniya had pulled over to identify whatever merchandise Douniya supposedly stole. As the four staff members look on, they struggle to do so.

“‘Did you guys SEE the merchandise?’ *Silence*”

The claim that Douniya stole a jacket, but Douniya’s text overlay says the coat is hers. Douniya captioned the post, “They did so much math but it wasn’t adding up.” The officer finally says cops with Douniya are her car can’t find any of the merchandise Zara staff allege she shoplifted.

He also noted that the staff chased her until she got to her car, so she wouldn’t have had a chance to discard it. He asks if the staff ever saw the merchandise or if the Zara system flagged it as stolen. Staff can’t answer, and say Douniya started running, but the footage cuts to additional mall camera footage showing Douniya calmly leaving the store.

Zara’s staff then says that Douniya shoved one of them. But according to the officer, Douniya alleges that staff grabbed her first. The mall footage shows Zara staff grabbing Douniya before she starts to run. A comment on the post noted, “‘Did you guys SEE the merchandise?’ *Silence*”

Stolen merch? More like a baby blanket

In a third post, Douniya shares police bodycam footage showing officers searching her car and examining the items in her possession. They find a baby blanket, which is hers, the officer notes, adding Douniya denies she took anything, but says the staff grabbed her when she left.

“She let us go through her whole car, and we didn’t find any merchandise,” the officer says in the post. Speaking to another officer at the scene, he asks her to get mall security footage because “they’re telling two very different stories.” Douniya then tells one of the officers she wants to press charges.

“I don’t necessarily agree with how they handle things, and we deal with them all the time,” the cop tells Douniya at the scene. “Unfortunately, they do this quite often.”

The whole thing is on camera

In a fourth and final post, Douniya shares additional bodycam footage from back at the mall, responding to a comment that she had time to ditch the supposedly stolen merchandise. The staff alleges Douniya pulled over and got rid of whatever she supposedly shoplifted.

In a text overlay, Douniya says, “Again I was followed from the store to the car. Then drove off from that lot never leaving the car all on camera.”

One comment on the post, shared on a Lynwood, Washington subreddit, alleged,

The one time I ever went to Zara, it was at this location and all the employees were too busy stalking people browsing the clothing that they didn’t notice the long line forming at the unmanned register. I was with someone who wanted to buy something but after waiting like 10 minutes for an employee to start checking out customers, we just put the stuff back and left.”

via BurningValkyrie19, Reddit

The outcome of Douniya’s situation is unclear, but under Washington law, stores and employees can briefly detain a suspected shoplifter but only under strict conditions. The state’s “shopkeeper’s privilege” permits detention only when there are “reasonable grounds” to believe a theft occurred, and it must be done in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable amount of time.

Without that evidence or probable cause, accusing someone of shoplifting can expose a business to civil liability, including claims such as false arrest or false imprisonment.

Additionally, Washington law generally allows force only when necessary and lawful, and excessive or unjustified touching of a suspect could lead to assault claims or other legal consequences. Zara has not commented on the situation, and social media comments note that the chain’s comment sections on various platforms are closed.