Erie stores, eateries target thieves with 'shame'

Several Erie grocery stores and restaurants are fighting small-time thievery by posting pictures of dishonest customers on "walls of shame."

The Erie Times-News says photos of shoplifters adorn the front window of Bello's Shur Fine Food Mart, in hopes customers will recognize thieves dubbed the "sub thief," ''Kool-Aid thief," ''meat thief," among others. There's even a "soap thief. The pictures come from surveillance cameras.

Dan Serafin, who operates 85-year-old Serafin's Market, says he's been posting such pictures for years and has two folders full of old ones.

General manager Duke Chen is doing the same thing with people who leave without paying their checks at the Imperial China Buffet in neighboring Millcreek Township.

Chen says, "We want to do it not to catch them but to let them know how bad they are."