Gucci Eyewear Stolen From Pearle Vision Center

West Orange police arrested an Irvington man for shoplifting three pairs of Gucci eyeglasses worth $1,329 on May 4 from the Pearle Vision store in Essex Green Plaza at 3:46 p.m.

According to store personnel, an unidentified black man entered the store two days prior to the incident and asked about eyeglasses, looked around and left the store.

The same man then entered the store on May 4 and was recognized by the employee. A short time later, a second person, later identified as Derrick Gibbs, entered the store. Gibbs was described by the store employee as dressed in a black baseball cap, black jacket, jeans and with a black/gray beard with the tip dyed red.

While the store employee opened a case to show eyeglasses to the first man, Gibbs headed over to a display case with Gucci glasses. The employee then walked over to Gibbs and noticed the eyeglasses missing from the display. 

The unidentified black man then left the store. A short while later, he came back to the store to tell Gibbs, “Yo, the bus is coming.” Both men then left the store. The store manager tried to follow the men, but could not figure out which direction they went.

At 3:46 p.m., Gibbs returned to the store and the store employee immediately recognized him, police said. The employee then called police.

When police arrived and questioned Gibbs, he told them his name was Darryl Gibbs and he lived in Newark. Gibbs could not tell police how he got to the store and denied he was ever in the store before, police said.

According to police, he immediately recanted and said he was in the store, but left to eat a bologna sandwich.

A further check by police found the suspect was Derrick Gibbs of Irvington and he was wanted on an Essex County warrant.

The store employee then identified Gibbs as the person who took the Gucci eyeglasses and he was arrested for shoplifting and hindering apprehension. He did not have the glasses in his possession at the time of his arrest.

Gibbs was transported to headquarters and was being held for Essex County Sheriff’s Officers.