A woman who led a prolific organized retail theft ring in Western Washington has returned to stealing high-end merchandise just months after walking out of prison, according to Bellevue police. Janice Downs, described as the ringleader of a group dubbed the 'Lululemon ladies,' is again accused of boosting luxury items from stores across the Seattle area.
Downs first drew the attention of the Bellevue Police Department's special enforcement team two years ago, when she and her mother were accused of stealing more than half a million dollars worth of Lululemon clothing from stores throughout Western Washington. She pleaded guilty to six counts of organized retail theft.
Downs was sentenced to 33 months in prison, with 501 days of credit for time already served, and was released in January. According to Bellevue police captain Landon Barnwell, just four months later she had gone right back to her old ways.
The case resurfaced when detective Jeff Christensen recognized Downs in a bulletin circulated by Tukwila police, which showed thieves stealing almost 4,000 dollars worth of fragrances from a Macy's store. Christensen said he had a similar photo of her from his earlier case and went on to identify Downs in comparable thefts at a Macy's in Tacoma and at the Nordstrom in downtown Seattle.
In the Nordstrom theft, detectives say surveillance video shows Downs wearing a burka as a disguise. They allege she and an accomplice worked together to steal two Louis Vuitton purses worth more than 7,000 dollars, distracting a clerk by asking to see other bags on the shelves behind him.
According to police, the footage shows how the pair carried out the theft. When the clerk turned his back, the accomplice slipped the handles of one purse over her arm. After he returned a second bag to the shelf and walked to the sales counter, Downs grabbed it, held it low against her side away from his view, and passed it to her accomplice, who left the store with both.
Investigators say social media played a central role in the case, with the suspects posting about their hauls on Instagram and TikTok. One video shows Janice Wiley, the mother of Downs, holding the two stolen Louis Vuitton purses, posted just days after the Nordstrom theft. Police say such offenders rarely stay in one place, bouncing between retailers across the region.
Downs remains in jail on 215,000 dollars bail, including 75,000 dollars tied to a fugitive warrant out of Oregon, where she faces 16 counts of organized retail theft, aggravated theft and theft. Detectives say a third suspect, who traveled up from California, was arrested at SeaTac Airport over thefts in Tukwila and Tacoma. Her mother, Janice Wiley, posted 50,000 dollars bail and was released, and is being investigated for possession of stolen property while her own 2024 Lululemon case remains pending. Police say the two Louis Vuitton purses, valued at 3,850 dollars each, have still not been recovered.