Why Are Stores Across the Country Locking Down their Stock of Tide Detergent!?

No, this isn’t the Onion reporting.  We checked, read the story again, and rechecked to see if this was just a joke.  But it’s not a joke–  there is a nationwide Tide Crime Spree taking place all over the country.  And nobody is exactly sure why, but there have been reports of thieves loading up carts with the liquid detergent and dashing out the door.  Okay, we’ll admit, we still think this story is fake, but here’s what’s being reported:

  • In Minnesota a man has been accused of stealing $25,000 worth of Tide over a few months.
  • It is reportedly being traded for drugs according to investigators in Maryland.
  • “There’s no serial numbers and it’s impossible to track,” said Detective Larry Patterson of the Somerset, Ky., Police Department, where authorities have seen a huge spike in Tide theft. “It’s the item to steal.”
  • “These are criminals coming into the store to steal thousands of dollars of merchandise,” said Detective Harrison Sprague of the Prince George’s County, Md., Police Department, where Tide is known as “liquid gold” among officers.
  • “They’ll do it right in front of a cop car — buying heroin or methamphetamine with Tide,” said Detective Rick Blake of the Gresham Police Department. “We would see people walking down the road with six, seven bottles of Tide. They were so blatant about it.”

You can read more at the33tv.com or abclocal.com or nj.com or citybeat.com and so on.