Officers’ search for possible theft suspect at Brea Mall prompts social media rumors

A report that a suspect in a weeks-ago crime was in a store in the Brea Mall led to a police search Friday, Sept. 20, and prompted false social media rumors of a lockdown, armed robbery and even an SUV driving through the shopping center.

Brea police Capt. Adam Hawley said that about 4:35 p.m., a clerk in Q, a clothing store in the space formerly occupied by Sears, called police to say that she recognized a man from a previous theft. That call, Hawley said, prompted the man to run from the store and, police believed, into a stairwell that would have locked him in.

Police cleared the store during the search but did not lock down the mall, Hawley said, though some people elsewhere in the center might have left on their own after seeing officers.

Police could not find the man, Hawley said.

“We have no information on who he is, why he ran. Quite honestly, we just wanted to interview him,” Hawley said.

People speculated on Twitter about what was happening. One person referenced the Brea Mall and linked a video of a black SUV driving through a mall. But that mall turned out to be in Chicago.

“No theft, no robbery and no loss of merchandise,” Hawley said.

The mall was operating normally Friday night, he said.